^fe 

/.  -J 


BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 

o 

THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


DON! 


-lOMPASY, 


CAPT.     DONNAVAN. 

Engraved  by  Hitchcock,  from  a  daguerreotype  !<y  North. 

Hallworth,  pr. 


\ 
ADVENTURES 


IN 


MEXICO; 


EXPERIENCED    DURING    A     CAPTIVITY     OF 
SEVEN    MONTHS. 


BY   C.  DONNAVAN. 


TWELFTH    EDITION. 


WITH    AN    APPENDIX. 


BOSTON: 
PUBLISHED  BY  GEORGE  R.  HOLBROOK  &  CO. 

1848. 


?.  a  a  u  i  vi  :-i  v 


;  o 


Entered  according  to  act  of   Congress,  in  the  year  1847, 

BY    C.    DONNAVAN, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  for  the  District  Court  of  Ohio. 


PRESS  OF  G.  C.  RAND  &  CO.,  No.  3,  Corahill. 


PREFACE. 


ON  his  return  to  the  United  States,  the  Author  had  not  conceived 
the  idea  of  presenting  to  the  public  a  narrative  of  his  adventures, 
especially  in  this  form.  True,  he  experienced  much  which  was  of 
great  moment  and  peculiar  interest  to  himself,  yet  he  was  loath  to 
reconcile  the  belief,  even  upon  the  repeated  assurances  of  his  friends, 
that  he  should  be  able  to  interest  others.  To  what  extent  he  may 
have  merited  the  partiality  of  those  friends,  the  public  will  now  have 
an  opportunity  to  judge.  The  fact  that  numerous  publications, 
already  scattered  over  the  States,  purporting  to  describe  the  people, 
country,  and  institutions  of  a  land  to  whose  destiny  all  eyes  seem 
now  eagerly  turned,  is  a  circumstance  foreboding  the  spirit  of  dis 
trust  in  which  a  new  production  may  be  received.  And  in  a  narra 
tive  of  this  character,  the  public  are  apt  to  anticipate  that  hational 
or  individual  prepossessions  may  produce  an  unfavorable  effect  upon 
the  writer  —  that  mere  prejudice  or  passion  may  direct  his  thoughts 
or  color  his  language.  Indeed,  it  is  no  easy  task  to  assure  such  a 
work  against  such  an  influence ;  and  although  the  Author's  treat 
ment,  while  a  prisoner,  served  to  impress  upon  him  no  very  high 
esteem  or  favorable  regard  for  those  who  held  him  in  bondage  con 
trary  to  all  rules  of  civilization,  it  does  not  follow  that  he  should 
hazard  his  reputation  by  venturing  upon  any  intentional  misstatement 
of  material  facts.  It  is  natural,  in  depicting  outrages  inflicted  by 
relentless  oppressors,  that  the  writer  should  evince,  in  some  degree, 
those  higher  passions  and  sentiments  which  alone  could  have  incited 
and  sustained  him  in  the  dark  days  of  trial,  yet  he  does  not  deem 

3 


.  » 


4  PREFACE. 

himself  justified  in  permitting  his  individual  wrongs  to  impart  a 
biassed  coloring  or  vindictive  spirit  to  his  narrative.  Under  such 
considerations  he  has  endeavored  to  observe  a  proper  degree  of  re 
straint  and  moderation,  and  to  suppress  any  unjust  feeling  of  resent 
ment  for  those  whom  he  has  every  reason  to  censure.  With  no  pre 
tension  to  profound  views  of  men  or  events,  nor  to  any  elaborate 
elegance  of  diction,  he  has  aimed  at  simplicity  and  truth,  rather 
than  striven  to  be  ambitious  for  effect.  From  imperfect  notes, 
sketched  during  the  period  of  his  captivity,  and  from  memory,  he 
has  endeavored  to  present,  in  an  abridged  form,  that  which  he  con 
ceives  will  be  of  most  interest.  The  manuscript,  as  originally  writ 
ten  out,  was  found  to  be  too  voluminous  ;  and  as  it  contained  much 
of  a  strictly  personal  nature,  was  curtailed  to  suit  the  dimensions  in 
which  the  work  appears.  This  will  account,  in  some  measure,  for 
the  apparent  abruptness  of  certain  portions  of  the  narrative.  The 
writer  had  not  the  vanity  to  presume  that  a  long  and  tedious  detail 
of  his  private  sufferings  would  elicit  public  attention,  beyond  the 
mere  circle  of  his  acquaintance,  severe  as  those  sufferings  were. 
Satisfied,  therefore,  in  alluding  as  briefly  as  practicable  to  his  indi 
vidual  privations,  he  has  dwelt  more  upon  the  resources  of  the  coun 
try,  descriptions  of  its  scenery,  soil,  climate,  and  productions,  char 
acter,  manners,  and  customs  of  the  people  —  relating  only  such  inci 
dents  connected  with  his  own  adventures,  as  may  be  relished  by  the 
general  reader. 
CINCINNATI,  Sept.  15, 1847. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Departure  for  Mexico.  Arrival  at  Brazos.  Description  of  Country.  Naviga 
tion  of  the  Rio  Grande.  Trip  up  the  River.  Reynosa.  Camargo.  Mier 
and  its  Natural  Advantages.  Stock.  Description  of  Country,  Timber,  and 
Productions.  Guerrero.  Scenery.  Curiosity  of  the  Natives.  Hospitality 
of  the  Authorities.  Springs.  Dwelling  Houses.  Coal  Mines.  Silver  Ore, 
&c.  A  Crooked  River.  Geological  Specimens.  Departure  for  Matamoras . 
—Page  13. 

CHAPTER  II. 

Return  to  Matamoras.  Creole  Fever.  Treatment.  Recovery.  Barry  and 
Cunningham.  Visit  to  Palo  Alto.  Burial  of  a  Soldier.  Impressions.  Ar 
rival  of  Volunteers.  Speculations.  Gambling.  Gen.  Taylor's  Orders.  His 
Personal  Appearance.  Anecdote  of  a  Dutchman.  Great  Thirst  for  Glory. 
Travelling  on  the  Rio  Grande.  Mexican  Women.  Anecdote  of  Lieutenant 
Deans.  Costume  of  the  Women.  Rancheros.  Their  Appearance  and 
Dress.— Page  ]8. 

CHAPTER  III. 

A  Hunting  Excursion.  Capture.  Journey  to  Mier.  Picking  Pockets.  Ap 
pearance  and  Character  of  Canalles.  The  First  Night^of  Captivity.  Novel 
Interview  with  one  of  the  Rancheros.  Sentence  of  Death.  Mexican  Char 
acter.  Interference  in  our  behalf.  Sentence  Reversed.  Our  Fate  Revealed. 
—Page  25. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

March  for  Ceralvo.  Diet.  Pinto  Indians.  Insults.  New  Jewelry.  Sympa 
thy  Among  the  Dutch.  Road  to  Carmillo.  Scenery.  Hacienda  of  San  Ma- 
tero.  Ancient  Ruins.  Slavery  in  Mexico.  Arrival  at  Carmillo.  Beauty 
and  Amusements.  A  Robber  Pursuing  an  Indian.  A  Mountain  Pass.  Death 
among-  the  Mustangs.  Desolation  of  a  Rancho.  Arrival  at  Monclova.  Fail 
ure  to  Sell  Prisoners.  Confinement  in  Prison.  Appearance  of  the  Prison 
and  Inmates.  A  Mier  Prisoner.  Reflections,  &c. — Page  28. 

CHAPTER  V. 

Release  from  Prison  at  Monclova.  Punishment  of  Criminals.  Advance*  of 
Gen.  Wool's  Army.  Our  Departure  for  Zacatecas.  Mexican  Expresses. 
Parras.  Novel  Funeral  Procession.  Burial  of  a  Muchacha.  Lake  of  Parras. 

5 


6  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

Rio  Grande  de  Parras.  Diet.  Mosquitos.  Degradation  of  Females.  Im 
plements  of  Husbandry.  An  Indian  City.  Indian  Fortifications.  Indian 
Women.  Captured  by  the  Indians.  Crossing  a  River.  Attempt  to  Escape. 
Drowning  of  a  Ranchero.  Towns  and  Cities.  Fresnillo.  Catholic  Proces 
sion.  Arrival  at  Zacatecas. — Page  39. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Zacatecas.  Peace  Party.  American  Citizens.  Their  Hospitality.  Our  Re 
lease.  Contemplated  Return.  A  Mexican  Editor.— Page  50. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

"-•:'[/;      /rsJiiUVJH.)     ,|NS<MS'£9         . >  :  T"  • 

Mexican  Opinion  of  Yankees.  Buildings  at  Zacatecas.  Customs.  Merchants* 
Shops.  Business.  Auction  Sales.  Petty  Thieves  and  their  Punishment. 
Gambling.  Lotteries.  Sunday  Entertainments.  Chi/rches.  Cathedral  and 
its  Ornaments.  Praying  for  a  Husband.  Bull  Fights.  Death  of  a  Picadore. 
Cock  Fighting.  Extent  of  Silver  Mines.  Gold  Dust.  Natural  Cave.  Geo 
logical  Specimens.  Iron,  Copper,  and  Coal  Mines.  Garden  of  Don  Alonzo 
Gomeres.  Huaco  Plant,  its  Appearance  and  Discovery.  Manufactures  in 
the  City.  Politics.  Jose  Maria  Lafragua.  Government.  Cruelties  of 
Santa  Anna.  Barbarous  Execution  of  a  Young  Female. — Page  52. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Impending  Difficulties.  Santa  Anna  at  San  Luis  Potosi.  Priests  Heading 
Guerilla  Parties.  Arrival  of  a  Detachment  from  Santa  Anna's  Army.  Re 
captured  by  the  Mexicans.  Arrest  of  Citizens  of  Zacatecas.  March  to  San 
Luis  Potosi.  Mexican  Soldiers  and  their  Manner  of  Enlisting.  City  and 
Prison  of  San  Luis  Potosi.  Execution.  Mode  of  Inflicting  Capital  Punish 
ment.  Invitation  to  join  the  Mexican  Army.  Our  Indignant  Refusal.  De 
parture  for  Acapulco.  Estate  of  Jorol.  Dolores.  City  and  Churches  of 
Guanajuato. — Page  64. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Arrival  at  Valladolid.  Curiosity  of  the  Citizens.  A  French  Publisher.  His 
History.  Another  Sentence  of  Death.  Negotiation  for  our  Release.  "Bar 
gain  and  Intrigue."  Sold  into  Slavery.  Mexican  Character.  Our  Price. 
Dr.  Barry.  A  Mexican  Printing  Office.  Spanish  Printers.  El  Republicano. 
Support  and  Character  of  Mexican  Newspapers. — Page  69. 

CHAPTER  X. 

-!>•;••*      .i,v>?'>iloM  Is  !fr/ :•;"!<• .  f™91 

City  of  Valladolid.  Climate  and  Productions.  Volcano  of  Jorullo.  New- 
Theory  of  the  Gulf  Stream.  Christmas.  Buildings  in  the  City.  Customs 
of  the  Inhabitants.  Matrimonial  Intrigues.  Music.  Governor  of  Mechoa- 
can,  and  his  Plan  of  Warfare.  Ignorance  of  a  Mexican  Editor  in  regard  to 
the  United  States.  Corwin's  Speech.  News  of  the  Battle  of  Buena  Vista, 
Great  Rejoicing.  Sentiments  of  the  Masses. — Page  74. 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS.  4 

CHAPTER  XL 

Easter  and  its  Amusements.  Visit  to  the  Cathedral.  Description  of  the  Edi 
fice.  Our  Employment  The  Spanish  Alphabet.  Change  in  Discipline, 
Improvement  in  Diet.  Masticating  Monkeys.  The  Ladies.  Their  Hospi 
tality  and  Accomplishments.  Love  and  its  Doings. — Page  79. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

News  of  the  Investment  of  Vera  Cruz.  Battle  of  Cerro  Gordo.  Character  of 
Cunningham.  Influence  of  Love.  Unfavorable  Change  in  Treatment.  Es 
cape  from  Valladolid.  Passing  the  Gates.  Departure  for  Q,ueretaro.  To 
matoes.  A  Rancho.  Hospitality  of  the  Women.  Baking  Tortillas.  As 
sumption  of  a  New  Character.  Rio  Grande  de  Santiago.  Banyan  Trees. 
Mountain  Scenery.  An  American  Physician,  his  Character  and  Kindness. 
Education  of  Lizards.  City  of  Queretaro.  A  Mexican  Diligence.  Arrival 
at  the  City  of  Mexico.— Page  83. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

City  of  Mexico.  Public  Grounds.  Public  Buildings.  The  Mint.  Coining 
Gold.  Hotels,  Theatres.  Newspaper  Press  of  the  City.  Literature.  So 
ciety.  Manners  and  Customs.  Dress.  Suburbs.  Cemetery.  Population. 
—Page  89. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Major  Borland.  Public  Sentiment  in  the  City.  Departure  for  Puebla.  Pass 
at  Rio  Frio.  Temple  of  the  Sun.  City  of  Puebla.  Manufactories.  Public 
Buildings.  Cathedral.  Investment  of  the  City.  Gen.  Worth.  Disaffection 
among  the  Soldiers.  Assassinations.  Perote.  Army  under  Gen.  Scott. 
Jalapa.  Battle  Ground  of  Cerro  Gordo.  National  Road  and  Bridge.  Col.. 
Sowers.  Vera  Cruz.  Castle  of  Sun  Juan.  Passage  Across  the  Gulf.  Island 
of  Lobos.  Arrival  in  the  United  States.  Barry  and  Cunningham.— P.  97. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Mexico.  Extent  of  Territory.  Soil.  Climate.  Maguey  Plant.  Cochineal. 
Vanilla.  Cotton  and  Sugar.  Potatoes.  Chili.  Timber.  Water.  Tobacco. 
Commerce.  Conquest.  Revolution.  Independence.  Influence  and  Wealth 
of  the  Priesthood.  Santa  Anna.  Gen.  Almonte.  Gomez  Farias.  Gen. 
Herrera.  Sqnor  Aleman.  Education.  The  War.  Manner  of  Conducting 
it.  Destiny.— Page  104. 

APPENDIX,    ----------        118 

DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  PANORAMA,          -  -  128 


-;Ml  8i:J  HI  nVi&friiMwt  •   .fin!  "!-'*•  •"  •^*.:x,f.  ~n 

.gniuji-'HKrrti'^fte^r)     '.'g*';.*-;' '  -iulq;^-;  TU 

^-  ADVERTISEMENT  q"Ai 

TO    THE   TWELFTH    EDITION. 

-T/T     ,fn*4?<v.">i,i£  • 

_...-,    v,/[*     ,,  .     •fj.lff  /<•., 

THE  author  cannot  forego  the  pleasure  it  affords  him  in  expressing 
his  grateful  acknowledgments  to  the  public,  for  the  partiality  mani 
fested  towards  his  unpretending  production.  To  say  that  his  highest 
anticipations  have  been  more  than  realized,  would  be  but  the  tame 
repetition  of  a  stereotyped  phrase  —  they  have  been  completely  sub 
merged  in  the  current  of  popular  favor.  More  than  sixteen  thou 
sand  copies  of  the  work,  in  the  English  language,  have  been  dis 
posed  of  by  his  publishers,  during  the  past  year ;  while  its  translation 
into  the  German  has  been  attended  with  comparatively  flattering  re 
gard. 

The  work  was  first  stereotyped  and  issued  at  Cincinnati,  in  Sep 
tember,  1847,  by  Messrs.  Robinson  &  Jones,  who  had  the  sole  super 
intendence  of  its  sale.  The  contract  with  those  publishers  having 
expired,  by  limitation,  at  the  close  of  the  first  year,  the  copy-right 
now  reverts  exclusively  to  the  author ;  and  the  repeated  applications 
for  it  at  his  Exhibition  Room,  have  induced  the  issue  of  the  present 
revised  edition,  including  an  Appendix  descriptive  of  the  Panorama, 
which  may,  to  some  extent,  be  regarded  as  an  illustration  of  his 

ii:ii  &•         .9&i'  M  >t)          ,i»<JOHi!V     -if*  I.) 

"  Adventures. 

•  M!j*€i 

BOSTON,  Oct.  15, 1848. 

8 


ADVENTURES 


IN    MEXICO 


CHAPTER    I- 

Departure  for  Mexico  —  Arrival  at  Brazos  —  Description  of  Country  —  Navi 
gation  of  the  Rio  Grande  —  Trip  up  the  River  —  Reynosn  —  Camanro  —  Mier 
and  its  natural  advantages  —  Slock  —  Description  of  Country,  Timber,  and 
Productions  —  Guerrero  —  Scenery  —  Curiosity  of  the  Natives  —  Hospitality 
of  the  Authorities  —  Springs  —  Dwelling;  Houses  —  Coal  Mines  —  Silver  Ore 

—  A  crooked  River  —  Geological  Specimens  —  Departure  for  Matamoras. 

THE  excited  state  of  feeling  which  followed  the  first  authentic 
intelligence  announcing  the  existence  of  actual  hostilities  on  the 
Rio  Grande,  was  only  equalled  by  the  promptitude  and  alacrity 
which  characterized  the  conduct  of  our  people,  in  offering  to  the 
country  their  services,  and  hastening  to  the  scene  of  action.  At  the 
period  when  the  first  requisition  for  troops  was  made  (in  the  spring 
of  1846)  the  author  was  engaged  as  clerk  on  the  steamboat  Ontario 

—  then  in  the  Louisville  and  Nashville  trade.     The  immediate  de 
mand  for  vessels  of  small  or  light  draft,  by  the  government,  to  trans 
port  troops  and  munitions  of  war,  from  the  Brazos  to  Matamoras, 
induced  the  proprietors  to  transfer  her   to   the   seat  of  war ;  and 
more  as  an  indispensable  appendage  to  the  crew,  than  from  any  in 
herent  belligerent  disposition,  he  consented  to  continue  the  super 
vision  of  her  finances,  and  accompany  her  to  the  enemy's  domin 
ions.      Leaving  New   Orleans  on   the   2 1st  of  May,    1846,  the 
Ontario,  with  a  portion   of  the   Louisiana  volunteers,  was   towed 
across  the  Gulf  by  the  brig  Everett,  and   landed   among  the  first 
boats  at  the  Brazos,  on  the  28th  of  the  same  month. 

Succeeding  our  arrival,  numerous  incidents  continued  to  occur, 
almost  daily,  many  of  which  possessing  some  degree  of  interest  and 
coming  under  my  observation,  have  already  appeared  in  the  public 
prints,  in  the  form  of  "  Letters  from  an  Occasional  Correspondent." 

A  recapitulation  of  so  much  of  those  letters  as  relates  to  the  Rio 
Grande  and  its  resources,  may  hardly  be  deemed  out  of  place  here, 
inasmuch  as  it  will  impart  to  the  reader  a  more  definite  idea  of  that 
2  13 


14  DONFAVAN'S     ADVENTUKES 

country  than  he  has  been  able  to  attain,  unless  having  visited  it  in 
person. 

Although  the  reading  public  has  been  recently  overtaxed  with  al 
most  every  variety  of  statements,  purporting  to  be  authentic  de 
scriptions  of  that  interesting  region,  and  accurate  accounts  of  its 
resources,  yet  few,  if  any,  of  the  many  adventurers,  have  suc 
ceeded  in  arriving  at  conclusions  at  all  satisfactory  to  those  who 
are  familiar  with  the  country,  as  it  exists  under  ordinary  circum 
stances.  The  great  variety  of  opinion  entertained  of  the  country, 
is  mainly  the  result  of  the  variety  of  circumstance  under  which  it 
is  visited.  The  tyranny  of  first  impressions  is  difficult  to  eradi 
cate,  and  is  ever  liable  to  exert  its  influence  over  our  better  judg 
ments.  It  is,  therefore,  matter  of  little  surprise,  that  a  large  num 
ber  of  our  volunteers,  who,  on  their  first  arrival  at  Point  Isabel  and 
Matamoras,  under  the  most  untoward  circumstances,  and  encoun 
tering  trials  at  which  their  ideas  of  domestic  comfort  revolted, 
should  arrive  at  original  and  diversified  conclusions.  Nor  is  it  at 
all  strange  that  much  of  the  dark  and  gloomy  should  be  mingled 
in  the  creations  of  those  whose  bright  hopes  of  speedy  conquest 
have  been  supplanted  by  the  more  melancholy  feeling  incident  to 
disappointment  and  disease. 

The  principal  objection  to  the  country  of  the  Rio  Grande,  and 
indeed,  the  larger  portion  of  the  Mexican  provinces,  arises  from  the 
scarcity  of  timber  and  water.  The  ebony,  musquite,  rosewood, 
and  a  variety  of  other  short,  stunted,  and  thorny  growths,  almost 
insulated  with  vines  of  different  species,  and  some  of  whose  flow 
ers  bloom  perennially,  constitute  the  only  woodlands — if  they  de 
serve  to  be  so  denominated  —  in  the  vicinity  of  th&t  river.  Oc 
casionally  the  willovv  and  white  cypress  are  to  be  found  approach 
ing  the  banks,  but  not  in  sufficient  abundance  to  afford  fuel,  at 
(what  in  boating  parlance  we  consider)  a  fair  compensation. 
The  ebony  and  rosewood  are  the  "  tallest  timber,"  but  it  is  sel 
dom  that  either  reaches  an  altitude  of  over  forty  feet.  Both  are 
well  adapted  to  the  manufacture  of  light  cabinet  ware,  and  would 
doubtless  be  appropriated  by  the  "  Yankees  "  to  that  purpose. 

The  rumor  that  extensive  beds  of  coal  abounded  in  the  vicinity 
of  Guerrero,  a  town  on  the  Rio  Grande,  about  three  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  from  Matamoras.  was  sufficient  inducement  to  visit  that 
place,  on  a  kind  of  exploring  expedition.  Although  the  practica 
bility  of  navigating  the  river,  above  the  mouth  of  the  San  Juan,  had 
been  doubted,  yet  it  was  easily  accomplished ;  indeed,  it  has  since 
been  ascended  to  Laredo,  a  distance  of  some  seven  hundred 
and  thirty  miles  from  the  Brazos.  The  chief  obstructions  to  navi 
gation  consist  in  the  rapidity  of  the  current,  and  the  narrow  passa 
ges  between  the  reefs  —  the  latter  jof  which  might  be  easily 
removed,  at  a  trifling  expense.  The  most  remarkable  of  these  are 


IN       MEXICO.  15 

« 

said  to  occur  above  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Snlado  —  one  of  which 
is  represented  to  be  more  than  a  mile  in  length.  They  consist  of 
a  spongy  composition  of  coral  rock,  and  bear  a  close  resemblance 
to  some  of  the  specimens  found  in  the  Mammoth  Cave  of  Kentucky. 

After  having  made  three  trips  from  the  Brazos  to  Matamoras,  the 
Ontario  left  the  latter  place  on  the  14th  of  June  (1846)  and  ascend 
ed  to  Guerrero,  touching  at  the  principal  points  between  the  two 
cities,  all  of  which  are  on  the  Mexican  side. 

Reynosa,  some  forty  miles  below  Carnargo,  is  an  inconsiderable 
place,  but  eligibly  situated.  It  contains  some  fine  brick  buildings, 
and  a  population  of  perhaps  one  thousand. 

Camargo ,  on  the  bank  of  the  river  San  Juan,  a  short  distance 
above  its  confluence  with  the  Rio  Grande,  has,  since  the  existence 
of  the  war,  become  a  place  of  some  note,  though  previously  it  \vas 
rather  obscure  and  unimportant,  save  as  a  point  pursued  to  Monte 
rey,  the  capital  of  the  province  of  New  Leon,  and  one  of  the  prin 
cipal  scenes  of  the  triumph  of  our  arms. 

The  town  of  Mier,  known  as  the  place  where  Col.  Fisher  and  his 
men  were  captured  during  the  Texan  war,  contains  over  five  thou 
sand  inhabitants.  It  is  located  on  the  Rio  Alcantro,  three  miles 
above  its  confluence  with  the  Rio  Grande,  and  forty-five  miles  above 
Camargo.  Under  a  different  form  of  government,  and  with  an  in 
dustrious  and  enterprising  population,  such  as  is  generally  found  in 
the  towns  of  the  United  States,  Mier  would  soon  command  exten 
sive  manufactures,  and  a  flourishing  trade.  Its  water  power,  which 
is  now  unemployed  and  unnoticed,  would  afford  superior  facilities 
for  the  manufacture  of  woollen  and  cotton  fabrics,  the  raw  material 
for  either  of  which,  may  be  produced  in  the  immediate  vicinity  with 
little  labor.  Indeed,  its  natural  resources  are  almost  unsurpassed, 
but  are  destined  to  remain  undeveloped,  until  American  genius  shall 
have  been  directed  to  that  quarter.  So  soon  as  the  navigation  of 
the  Rio  Grande  shall  be  opened  to  the  commercial  world,  if  that 
period  find  its  manufacturing  facilities  in  their  present  state  of  na 
ture,  the  great  variety  of  domestic  manufactures  of  the  United  States 
will  find  a  ready  and  profitable  market  along  the  whole  line  of  that 
great  thoroughfare.  The  inhabitants,  at  present,  produce  little  else 
than  stock,  which  requires  no  food  but  rnusquite  grass  and  fodder; 
with  Indian  corn  sufficient  to  supply  themselves  with  tortillas. 
Single  herds  of  cattle,  numbering  from  five  to  ten  thousand,  and 
double  that  number  of  sheep  and  goats,  are  not  unfrequently  to  be 
seen. 

Ascending  the  river  from  Mier,  a  very  material  change  for  the  bet 
ter  is  observable  in  the  character  of  the  country.  On  either  side, 
rich  and  extensive  valleys  stretch  out  to  what  is  called  the  "  table 
lands,"  presenting  a  strong  and  deep  soil,  in  some  places  judiciously 
cultivated.  Occasionally  in  the  prairies,  extensive  cotton  farms, 


16 

containing  from  ten  to  three  hundred  thousand  acres,  are  to  be  seen. 
Beans,  potatoes,  wheat,  and  corn  are  here  grown  in  greater  abun 
dance,  perhaps,  than  in  any  other  part  of  Mexico,  a  fact  which  taken 
in  consideration  with  its  commercial  and  manufacturing  ad  vantages, 
must  ultimately  render  the  valley  of  the  Rio  Grande,  one  of  the 
most  important  regions  of  the  South. 

Ninety-six  miles  above  Mier,  on  the  Rio  Salado,  is  located  the 
flourishing  city  of  Guerrero.  This  embryo  city  is  approached  by 
ascending  the  Salado  to  its  rapids,  one  mile  and  a  half  below  the 
town,  and  ten  miles  from  its  confluence  with  the  Rio  Grande.  The 
rapids  and  adjacent  scenery  present  a  peculiarly  picturesque  and 
romantic  view.  The  river  here  is  small  and  the  current  exceedingly 
rapid  ;  and  as  its  dark  turbid  waters  leap  and  tumble  over  the  black, 
dingy  rocks,  they  seem  endeavoring  to  imitate  Niagara  itself.  Per 
haps  the  effect  produced  is  equal,  but  the  grandeur  is  incomparably 
insignificant,  when  viewed  in  connection  with  that  great  and  won 
derful  water-fall  of  the  world  !  The  scenery  about  Guerrero  is 
neither  insipid  uor  monotonous.  Gigantic  hills  rise  abruptly  from 
the  banks,  which  are  covered  with  pine,  magnolia,  and  various 
growths  of  evergreen,  yet  there  seems  to  be  a  contention  between 
the  rocks  and  shrubs  for  the  supremacy  of  the  soil.  Some  leagues 
from  the  town,  and  as  the  sources  of  the  Salado  are  approached, 
forest  timber  of  large  dimensions  is  said  to  abound. 

The  Ontario  being  the  second  boat  to  approach  Guerrero,  and  the 
largest  ever  seen  by  the  natives,  great  curiosity  was  manifested,  and 
she  was  thronged  by  visiters.  Their  astonishment  and  interrogato 
ries  relative  to  the  boat  and  its  machinery,  afforded  a  fund  of  amuse 
ment  to  the  officers.  The  Alcalde  remarked  in  Spanish,  which 
when  translated  gave  us  to  understand  that,  like  "  Capt.  Scott's 
coon,  he  was  in  favor  of  coming  down."  He  said  he  had  been 
told  that  the  Americans  could  send  their  letters  by  thunder  and 
lightning,  but  he  never  believed  it  —  yet  since  he  had  seen,  with  his 
own  eyes,  that  they  could  twist  iron  into  so  many  fantastic  shapes, 
and  make  it  float  against  the  current,  he  began  to  think  they  could 
accomplish  any  thing  they  chose  to  undertake,  and  it  was  of  no  use 
to  fight  against  them.  The  Alcalde  came  on  board  soon  after  the 
boat  landed,  stating  that  one  of  his  rancheros  had  informed  him 
that  the  Americans  were  coming  in  a  "  sea-wagon  "  that  split  the 
waves  and  rocks  in  two,  forcing  its  own  passage.  It  seemed  as  if 
about  half  the  inhabitants  expected  to  be  annihilated  at  once,  so 
alarming  was  the  commotion,  until  they  were  assured  by  the  Al 
calde  that  the  boat,  although  breathing  and  snorting,  did  not  pos 
sess  animal  life,  and  was  perfectly  docile.  Whethei  through  fear 
or  affection,  great  friendship  was  manifested  by  the  authorities,  and 
the  priests  were  highly  delighted  to  find  that  the  American  Bible 
so  closely  resembled  their  own.  Fandangoes  were  gotten  up  in  the 


IN       MEXICO.  17 

city,  and  invitations  extended  to  many  of  our  company.  Of  course 
we  attended,  and  were  highly  pleased  with  the  beauty  and  enthu 
siasm  of  the  women,  but  disgusted  at  the  ignorance  and  incivilities 
of  the  men.  I  must  describe  a  fandango.  When  a  large  rancho 
is  not  convenient,  an  area  of  a  hundred  yards  is  swept  off,  and  in 
the  soft,  silvery  moonlight,  young  and  old  congregate  around  a  dim 
lamp.  Agitated  by  the  discordant  notes  from  some  rude  instrument, 

"  Those  dance  and  waltz  who  never  waltzed  before, 
And  those  who  always  waltzed  now  waltz  the  more." 

Guerrero  contains  a  population  of  near  10,000,  and  is  a  popular 
place  of  resort  among  the  better  classes,  on  account  of  its  sulphur 
springs.  These  springs  are  located  above  the  city  some  twelve 
miles,  and  are  said  to  possess  the  same  medicinal  virtues  as  the  cel 
ebrated  Blue  Lick  springs,  of  Kentucky.  The  first  settlement  was 
made  at  Guerrero,  in  the  form  of  a  missionary  station,  more  than 
one  hundred  years  ago.  It  is  the  largest  and  decidedly  the  most 
pleasant  place  on  the  Rio  Grande.  Owing,  perhaps,  to  the  materials 
used  for  construction,  together  with  the  rude  notions  of  architecture 
entertained  by  the  natives,  most  of  the  towns  in  Mexico  present  an 
appearance  of  antiquity  which  does  not  in  justice  belong  to  many 
of  them.  The  style  of  building  is  rather  tasteful  in  effect,  but  mea 
gre  and  insignificant  in  detail.  Most  of  the  dwellings  in  Guerrero 
have  their  gardens  and  yards  ;  and  the  entire  place,  in  the  absence 
of  every  thing  like  gaudy  display,  presents  an  appearance  of  ease 
and  comfort,  if  not  of  wealth. 

It  was  soon  found  that  bituminous  coal  of  excellent  quality,  could 
be  obtained  here  in  abundance.  There  exists  several  varieties, 
among  which  is  one  containing  little  or  no  sulphur,  and  which  burns 
readily  as  it  falls  into  water.  This  is  a  superior  article  for  the  use 
of  blacksmiths,  as  was  ascertained  by  actual  experiment.  Active 
preparations  were  making  by  a  company  of  Americans  to  work 
these  mines,  which  when  opened,  must  become  invaluable  in.  a 
country  where  timber  is  so  scarce  and  expensive. 

Silver  ore  is  found  in  the  vicinity,  and  gold  dust  is  said  to  exist  in 
the  alluvial  deposits  above  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Salado.  Red  chalk, 
red  and  yellow  ochre,  brimstone  and  nitre,  likewise  abound  within 
a  circumference  of  ten  miles  of  the  town. 

The  Mississippi,  which  has  long  enjoyed  the  undisputed  reputa 
tion  of  being  the  crookedest  river  on  our  continent,  is  hardly  an 
index  to  the  Rio  Grande.  It  must  have  required  an  accomplished 
surveyor  to  ascertain  the  general  course  of  the  latter  stream,  flowing 
as  it  does  to  every  point  of  the  compass,  and  torturing  itself  to  find 
some  new  direction.  Boats  frequently  get  fast  in  turning  the  bends, 
and  were  it  not  for  the  velocity  of  the  current,  pilots  would  surely 
2* 


18  DONNAVAN'S     ADVENTURES 

get  lost  in  its  mazy  labyrinths.  The  "  oldest  inhabitants  "  contend 
that  birds  seldom  succeed  in  flying  across  —  but  almost  invariably 
light  on  the  same  side  from  whence  they  take  their  flight.  In  width 
it  varies  from  100  to  300  yards.  The  complexion  of  its  waters  re 
sembles  those  of  the  Missouri,  while  the  rapidity  of  its  current  is 
even  greater.  In  extent  of  volume  it  may  perhaps  compare  with 
the  Connecticut  river  at  Hartford.  It  is  navigable  for  steamboats  of 
light  draught,  during  the  freshet  seasons,  to  Laredo,  seven  hundred 
miles  above  the  mouth. 

To  the  scientific  geologist,  the  upper  Rio  Grande  could  not  fail 
to  present  a  field  of  peculiar  interest.  There  exist  many  novel  spe 
cimens,  and  the  earth  is  rich  in  mineral  treasures.  A  large  portion 
of  the  rock  formation  is  of  sand-stone,  which  is  constantly  increas 
ing.  The  intense  heat  of  the  sun,  succeeding  the  heavy  rains,  soon 
converts  the  alluvial  deposits  into  rock.  Islands  frequently  rise  from 
twenty  to  fifty  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  water,  composed  of  what 
might  be  termed  calcareous  conglomerates.  They  appear  to  be  col 
lections  of  large  sea  shells,  with  a  great  many  fibrous  petrifactions 
of  roots,  bark,  and  grasses,  and  in  some  are  found  considerable 
quantities  of  carbonate  of  iron.  Many  of  the  bluffs  exhibit,  near 
their  bases,  strata  of  the  finest  quality  of  clay,  adapted  to  the  man 
ufacture  of  a  superior  article  of  delf.  In  short,  this  region  affords 
every  natural  resource  to  attract  the  attention  of  capitalists  and  spec 
ulators,  while  there  is  little  to  allure  the  hardy  pioneer  of  the  West, 
who  paves  the  path  of  civilization  by  hewing  out  his  own  home  and 
fortune  in  the  forest. 

After  lying  at  Guerrero  three  days,  and  taking  on  board  over  fifty 
tons  of  coal,  the  Ontario  left  on  her  return  to  Matamoras,  on  the 
morning  of  June  22d,  her  departure  apparently  regretted  by  a  large 
number  of  the  inhabitants,  of  all  ages,  sexes,  colors,  and  conditions, 
who  had  assembled  to  witness  her  departure,  and  who  continued  to 
wave  their  scarfs,  handkerchiefs,  blankets,  and  reboses,  till  the  boat 
had  receded  beyond  their  sight. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Return  to  Matamoras  —  Creole  Fever  —  Treatment  —  Recovery  —  Barry  and 
Cunningham  —  Visit  to  Palo  Alto  —  Burial  of  a  Soldier  —  Impressions  — 
Arrival  of  Volunteers  —  Speculators  —  Gambling  —  Gen.  Taylor's  Orders  — 
His  personal  Appearance  —  Anecdote  of  a  Dutchman  —  Great  thirst  for  Glory 
—  Travelling  on  the  Rio  Grande  —  Mexican  Women  —  Anecdote  of  Lieuten 
ant  Deans  —  Costume  of  the  Women  —  Rancheros  —  their  appearance  and  Dress. 

SUFFERING  from  a  severe  and  violent  attack  of  "  Creole  fever," 
which  confined  me  to  my  room  for  four  consecutive  weeks,    I 


IN       MEXICO.  19 

arrived  at  Matamoras  on  the  25th  of  June,  (1846.)  Leaving  the 
boat,  I  took  lodgings  at  the  "  United  States  Hotel,"  of  which  Mr. 
Howard,  a  warm-hearted  and  gentlemanly  Kentuckian,  was  pro 
prietor.  Those  who  were  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  in  Matamoras 
at  this  period,  knew  well  how  to  appreciate  a  kind  or  generous 
action  ;  for  it  was  with  some  difficulty,  among  the  vast  crowd 
which  then  thronged  the  city,  that  those  in  perfect  health  could 
procure  the  ordinary  necessaries  of  life  ;  much  less  could  an  in 
valid,  prostrated  by  disease,  look  for  those  attentions  called  for  in 
his  suffering  condition. 

It  was  during  this  illness  that  I  became  acquainted  with  the  two 
gentlemen  who  were  afterwards  my  unfortunate  associates  in  cap 
tivity —  Dr.  Barry,  of  Mississippi,  and  Mr.  Cunningham,  of  Louis 
ville,  Kentucky.  The  assiduity  which  characterized  their  disin 
terested  attentions,  can  never  be  forgotten,  nor  can  I  ever  hope  to 
extinguish  the  obligations  under  which  their  repeated  acts  of  kind 
ness  placed  me.  Ceasing  to  cherish  the  memory  of  those  who 
could  turn  aside  from  their  occupations  of  dealing  death  and  de 
struction,  to  alleviate,  with  a  gentler  hand,  the  afflictions  of  an  in 
valid  stranger,  I  should,  indeed  be  ungrateful.  To  their  unre 
mitting  attention  and  kind  ministrations,  I  perhaps  owe  my  recov 
ery  from  a  disease  which  is  there  seldom  eluded,  during  the  pro 
cess  of  acclimation  ;  and  in  four  weeks  from  the  period  of  my 
attack,  was  sufficiently  restored  to  health  and  strength,  as  to  be 
able  to  accompany  them  on  a  visit  to  the  battle  fields  of  Palo  Alto 
and  Reseca  de  la  Palma.  The  excursion  was  one  of  deep  and 
mournful  interest.  It  was  on  the  occasion  of  the  funeral  of  young 
Danforth,  a  regular  in  the  American  Army,  who  had  received  his 
death-wound  at  Palo  Alto,  and  who,  after  lingering  two  months, 
died  in  the  same  hotel  and  in  the  same  room  I  occupied.  He  had 
been  taken  to  the  hospital,  but  could  not  endure  the  idea  of  dying 
there,  and  was  brought  to  the  hotel  on  his  own  earnest  and  re 
peated  solicitations.  His  last  wish  was  to  be  buried  on  the  battle 
field.  He  had  been  but  a  private  soldier — yet,  in  the  absence 
of  the  "  pomp  and  circumstance  "  which  usually  attend  the  last 
rites  of  those  superior  to  him  in  station,  the  scene  was  a  melan 
choly  and  impressive  one.  Pecuniary  reverses  and  domestic  mis 
fortune  had  driven  him  to  join  the  regular  service,  about  a  year 
before  the  present  war.  He  was  a  native  of  Tennessee,  and  had 
been  quite  a  favorite  with  his  regiment,  as  well  as  in  the  social 
circle  that  he  had  once  adorned.  His  comrades  were  all  ready 
to  sound  his  praises  —  and  although  his  private  history  was  com 
paratively  unknown,  his  intelligence  and  unassuming  manners, 
with  his  brave  and  manly  bearing,  had  particularly  attracted  the 
notice  and  warm  regard  of  his  officers.  His  last  day  upon  the 
earth  was  peculiarly  appropriate  to  the  closing  scene,  even  of  a 


20  DONNAVAN'S     ADVENTURES 

warrior's  career.  It  was  calm  and  clear,  as  the  soul  is,  after  the 
storm  and  struggle  of  ambition  have  passed  away.  It  was  one  of 
those  mellow,  golden  days,  experienced  alone  under  a  tropical 
sun,  and  the  stars  and  stripes  hung  in  motionless  solemnity  over 
the  subdued  city  of  Matamoras.  Soldiers  were  collected  together 
in  small  groups,  whispering  among  themselves — -and  even  the 
sergeant,  when  uttering  his  orders,  seemed  to  dispense  with  half 
his  authority.  Soon  the  muffled  roll  of  the  drum  was  heard,  and 
silent  and  dejected,  with  their  eyes  fixed  upon  the  ground,  and 
their  arms  reversed,  the  soldiers  formed  in  procession.  With 
measured  pace  they  approached  the  battle  field.  Arriving  at  the 
grave,  the  black  pall,  which  covered  a  plain  coffin,  was  removed, 
and  the  remains  of  the  deceased  were  silently  lowered  into  the 
earth,  by  his  old  associates.  The  troops  encircling  the  grave, 
the  word  of  command  was  given,  and  the  simultaneous  discharge 
of  musketry  announced  that  a  soldier  had  been  deposited  in  his 
last,  quiet  resting  place,  beyond  the  din  of  battle  and  the  strife 
for  glory.  But  the  roaring  requiems  from  the  arms  of  those  who 
had  survived  him  were  proof  that  he  had  died  as  a  soldier  ought 
to  die — full  of  honor  —  though  not  upon  the  battle  field. 

His  old  comrades  retired,  and  as  they  walked  mournfully  away, 
casting  back  a  lingering  look  upon  the  newly  heaped  up  mound, 
I  asked  myself  if  these  were  the  heroes  who  were  carrying  the 
fame  of  the  American  arms  to  the  remotest  regions  of  the  earth, 
and  unfurling  the  flag  of  the  free  over  half  a  continent  —  if  men 
who  could  not  witness,  without  the  deepest  emotion,  the  burial  of 
a  comrade,  could  ever  have  rushed  so  impetuously  to  the  charge ! 
Yet  I  knew  that  they  had,  and  rejoiced  to  see  that  those  who 
could  fight  valiantly,  could  also  feel  sensitively,  and  weep  bitterly. 
But  such  have  always  been  the  character  and  sentiments  of  the 
American  soldier  —  such  must  ever  remain  distinguishing  features 
in  the  conduct  of  a  people  nurtured  in  the  school  of  social  refine 
ment  and  constitutional  liberty. 

Resuming  my  situation  of  clerk  on  the  Ontario,  in  July,  I  had 
the  pleasure  of  meeting  a  number  of  old  friends  among  the  vol 
unteers  from  the  States  of  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Indiana,  and  Illinois, 
who  were  then  arriving  at  Brazos  Island.  An  almost  innumerable 
swarm  of  speculators  followed  in  their  train,  across  the  Gulf,  an 
ticipating  a  rich  harvest,  and  a  realization  of  speedy  fortune.  The 
vulture-like  avidity  with  which  this  class  of  people  flocked  around 
our  army,  was  alike  discreditable  to  themselves  and  to  the  charac 
ter  of  our  government.  Disappointed  in  attaining  their  object, 
they  were  often  found  to  be  the  perpetrators  of  outrages  upon  the 
persons  and  property  of  the  enemy  in  cold  blood ;  and  for  which 
acts  of  violence  the  volunteers  were  not  unfrequently  held  respon 
sible.  Men  were  to  be  seen  here  from  every  known  quarter  of 


JN       MEXICO.  21 

the  globe,  without  visible  means  of  support,  and  no  resource  but 
that  of  peculation  and  open  robbery :  in  fact,  the  variety  of  "  gen 
tlemen  of  leisure"  was  complete,  from  the  well-clad  gambler  to 
the  common  vagabond,  with  his  dilapidated  habiliments,  descant 
ing  upon  his  "unfortunate"  condition,  and  omitting  no  opportu 
nity  to  impress  the  belief  that  he  "had  been  better  raised." 
Games  of  monte,  "  white  or  red,"  faro,  and  even  "  old  sledge," 
were  extensively  indulged  in,  while  every  other  stratagem  was  put 
in  requisition  to  relieve  the  unsuspecting  of  their  extra  change. 
It  was  not  long,  however,  before  Gen.  Taylor  issued  peremptory 
orders  of  ejectment  to  this  class  of  adventurers.  And  old  "  Rough 
and  Ready"  is  the  man  to  be  obeyed.  Plain  yet  prepossessing 
in  his  manners,  he  combines  the  firmness  and  decision  of  Gen. 
Jackson,  with  much  of  the  iron  nature  of  that  old  patriot-hero. 
In  his  person,  Gen.  Taylor  is  rather  above  the  middle  stature,  and 
somewhat  deficient  in  elegance  of  figure,  yet  in  his  regimentals 
he  possesses  a  striking  and  manly  appearance.  In  his  tent,  where  he 
usually  appears  in  his  citizen's  dress,  a  superficial  observer  might 
regard  him  as  no  more  than  a  common  individual  ;  but  upon  close 
examination,  his  head  will  be  found  large,  and  formed  on  the 
finest  model.  His  forehead  is  spacious  and  elevated  —  his  nose 
a  most  prominent  feature,  and  decidedly  aquiline.  His  eyes  grey, 
keen,  and  piercing —  his  mouth  large,  and  chin  well-proportioned. 
He  is  remarkable  for  a  deep  depression  between  his  nose  and 
forehead,  and  a  contraction  of  his  brow,  which  gives  to  the  upper 
part  of  his  countenance  an  air  of  sternness,  while  the  lower  part 
is  an  emblem  of  mildness  and  benevolence. 

Among  other  ludicrous  incidents  which  occurred  on  the  day  of 
general  dispersion,  was  one  serving  forcibly  to  illustrate  the  shrewd 
ness  of  Yankee  character.  A  certain  "  Mynheer,"  of  New  Or 
leans,  rather  fresh  from  the  other  side  of  the  water,  had  been  re 
tailing  "hard  cider"  quite  extensively  among  the  soldiers,  at  ten 
cents  a  glass.  The  dimensions  of  his  temporary  domicil  being 
rather  prescribed,  he  had  arranged  the  barrel  from  which  he  drew 
the  refreshing  beverage,  so  that  one  end  extended  beyond  the 
constitutional  limits  of  his  territory.  On  the  last  day  of  grace, 
notwithstanding  his  anxiety  to  sell  out  and  close  business,  he 
found  his  patronage  alarmingly  diminished.  His  old  customers 
came  up  to  the  bar  as  usual,  to  inquire  the  price  of  cider ;  but 
when  he  responded  "  ten  cents  a  glass,"  they  gravely  informed 
him  that  his  next  neighbor  was  selling  "  the  same  article  "  at  half 
a  dime!  Finally,  the  Dutchman,  on  walking  round  to  the  rear  of 
his  tent,  found  that  a  Yankee  soldier  had  tapped  the  other  end  of 
the  barrel,  and  actually  sold  out,  at  half  price  ! 

About  this  period,  the  army  was  congregating  at  Camargo,  pre 
paratory  to  marching  against  Monterey,  where  Gen.  Arista  had 


22  DONNAVAN'S     ADVENTURES 

concentrated  a  large  force ;  and  the  boat,  on  her  upward  trips,  was 
crowded  with  volunteers.  Officers  and  privates  who  had  escaped 
the  epidemic  consequent  upon  acclimation,  were  all  eager  to  "  meet 
the  enemy."  Many  of  the  young  Captains,  who  had  perhaps  never 
before  unsheathed  a  sword,  seemed  particularly  anxious  to  immor 
talize  themselves.  How  they  should  "  distinguish"  themselves  was 
the  all-engrossing  subject  of  conversation,  and  with  their  backs 
against  a  chair,  their  feet  planted,  in  true  American  style,  against  the 
railing,  they  would  sit  smoking  their  sigaretto,  or  masticating  James 
River,  with  no  care  to  perplex  them  but  the  vain  hope  of  glory. 

Travelling  on  the  Rio  Grande  is  unlike  travelling  on  the  Ohio. 
Here,  if  a  man's  genius  have  a  philosophical  bend,  he  can  give 
himself  up  to  consolatory  contemplations.  He  can  look  out  upon 
the  proud  hills,  and  the  well-cultivated  valleys,  as  [ic  passes  swiftly 
over  the  glittering  waters,  and  enjoy  the  homes  of  his  thriving 
countrymen.  He  can  read  some  favorite  author,  or  chat  with 
some  old  gentleman  on  the  follies  and  vanities  of  the  world  in 
general  —  or  he  may  while  away  the  hours  with  an  innocent  flirta 
tion  with  some  witch  of  a  girl,  to  whom  he  has  been  introduced, 
and  wreathe  the  fairy  footsteps  of  old  Time  with  the  flowers  of 
poesy  and  passion.  It  is  not  so  easy  to  find  amusement  on  the 
dark  and  restless  waters  of  the  Rio  Grande.  There  you  must  talk 
of  battles,  of  surprises,  heroes,  and  forced  marches ;  and  there  is 
little  to  relieve  this  belligerent  monotony  except  the  occasional  ap 
pearance  of  the  laundresses  of  some  neighboring  rancho  or  haci 
enda,  rolling  up  their  gowns,  and  wading  into  the  water  with  a 
bundle  of  "  duds,"  on  washing  day.  Tubs  seldom  stand  on  their 
own  bottoms  in  this  part  of  Mexico,  for  such  articles  of  domestic 
convenience  have  scarcely  penetrated  that  half-civilized  region. 
As  a  consequence,  their  women  perform  this  very  necessary  part 
of  household  labor,  in  the  river,  and  from  which  novel  custom 
they  seem  to  have  imbibed  a  sort  of  amphibious  nature.  It  is  by 
no  means  an  uncommon  occurrence,  especially  on  the  San  Juan 
and  Salado  rivers,  to  see  droves  of  joyous  young  girls  disporting 
like  mermaids  among  the  waves,  with  their  long,  black,  dishevelled 
locks,  playing  confusedly  on  the  surface.  Bathing  seems  to  be  a 
passion  among  Mexican  females,  and  it  is  one  mark  of  their  supe 
rior  knowledge  in  the  science  of  promoting  the  health  and  vigor 
of  the  body. 

Much  has  been  recently  said  and  written  of  the  Mexican  wo 
men,  of  whose  personal  appearance  and  peculiarities  of  character, 
we  have  been  comparatively  ignorant.  The  writer  may,  therefore, 
be  permitted  to  hazard  his  own  opinion  among  others,  so  far  as  the 
extent  of  his  obversation  will  warrant  him  in  forming  one.  Those 
about  the  Rio  Grande  can  scarcely  be  regarded  as  a  fair  specimen 
of  the  sex  in  the  interior ;  yet  even  they,  many  of  them  in  a  half- 


IN       MEXICO.  23 

barbarous  state,  with  all  their  faults,  possess  many  redeeming  quali 
ties.  They  are  remarkable  for  their  cleanliness,  good  behavior, 
and  hospitality :  and  they  look  upon  drunkenness  and  like  v  ces 
with  no  degree  of  toleration.  In  the  north-eastern  provinces  par 
ticularly,  they  are  a  mixed  and  mongrel  race,  generally  the  illicit 
descendants  of  Mexican,  Indian,  and  Spaniard,  penciled  occasion 
ally  with  a  faint  outline  of  Anglo-Saxon  ancestry.  Their  almost 
universally  small  feet  and  ankles  are  just  cause  for  regarding  the 
understandings  of  our  people  with  a  degree  of  astonishment,  and 
I  have  often  seen  them  in  ecstacies  of  laughter,  while  ridiculing 
the  extensive  feet  of  some  of  our  volunteers.  As  a  general  thing  they 
possess  great  symmetry  of  form,  and  their  black,  silken  hair,  pearly 
teeth,  and  full,  dark  eyes,  modestly  beaming  with  the  most  intense, 
and  expressive  emotion,  are  well-calculated  to  bring  vividly  to 
mind  Byron's  picture  of  the  "Dark-eyed  Girl  of  Cadiz  :  " — 

"  The  Spanish  girl  is  no  coquette, 

Nor  joys  to  see  her  lover  tremble ; 
And  if  she  love,  or  if  she  hate, 

Alike  she  knows  not  to  dissemble." 

It  was  a  bewitching  beauty,  of  this  description,  that  so  suddenly 
besieged  the  heart  of  Lieutenant  Deans,  and  led  him  into  double 
captivity.  Before  the  army  had  crossed  to  Matamoras,  and  while 
occupying  Fort  Brown,  it  was  customary  for  the  American  band 
to  perform  some  national  air,  evening  and  morning.  On  such  an 
occasion  the  "  concert  of  sweet  sounds,"  in  the  music  of  the  Star 
Spangled  banner,"  attracted  the  attention  of  crowds  of  Mexicans 
on  the  opposite  shore,  among  whom  appeared  a  number  of  ladies. 
Our  "native  American,"  became  suddenly  enamored  with  one  of 
these,  and  after  mutual  signs  and  tokens  were  passed,  he  plunged 
into  the  Mexican  Hellespont,  and  landed  in  the  enemy's  domin 
ions.  But  in  endeavoring  to  capture  his  heroine,  he  was  himself 
made  a  captive.  It  is  creditable,  however,  to  the  Lieutenant's 
constancy,  that  after  the  bombardment  of  Matamoras,  and  his 
trial  and  acquittal  for  desertion,  he  married  the  object  of  his  violent 
passion. 

The  style  of  dress  adopted  by  the  ladies  is  by  no  means  prepos 
sessing.  Among  the  more  common  classes,  it  usually  consists  of 
light  slippers  without  stockings,  a  flannel  petticoat,  and  a  chemise 
that  leaves  a  much  larger  share  of  the  neck,  shoulders,  and  that 
entire  neighborhood,  bare,  than  our  sense  of  modesty  would  dic 
tate.  The  reboso,  or  bonnet,  when  worn,  not  only  covers  this 
nakedness,  but  leaves  one  in  doubt  whether  the  head  is  a  part  of 
the  body,  or  the  body  a  part  of  the  head. 

The  females  are  transcendantly  superior  to  the  males,  not  only 
in  personal  appearance,  but  in  every  essential  requisite  that  con- 


24  DONNAVAN'S  ADVENTURES 

tributes  to  moral  refinement.  The  great  mass  of  the  men  are 
ignorant,  indolent,  inefficient  creatures,  distinguished  by  but  one 
leading  trait  of  character —  that  trait  is  treachery,  and  a  studied 
effort  how  they  shall  obtain  a  living  without  work.  The  rancheros, 
or  farmers,  who  compose  the  great  body  of  the  Mexican  cavalry, 
constitute  about  the  best  portion  of  their  native  population,  so  far 
as  energy  of  character  and  intelligence  are  concerned.  They  are 
half  Spanish  and  half  Indian  in  their  extraction  ;  gaunt,  shrivelled, 
though  muscular  in  their  frames  ;  dark,  swarthy  visaged,  and 
below  the  ordinary  stature.  They  live  more  than  half  their  time 
in  the  saddle,  and  are  unrivalled  horsemen.  They  are  ever  on  the 
alert,  and  seldom  surprised.  When  not  in  pursuit  of  plunder, 
they  roam  over  the  vast  plains,  and  employ  their  time  in  lassoing 
buffalo  and  wild  horses,  which  are  to  be  found  there  in  countless 
numbers.  Killing  these  animals  and  preparing  their  hides  for  the 
market,  is  their  means  of  livelihood.  Their  costume  generally 
consists  of  a  pair  of  tough  raw-hide  leggings,  with  sandals  of  the 
same  material,  bound  together  wiih  leathern  thongs,  over  which  is 
a  blanket,  with  a  hole  in  the  centre,  large  enough  to  allow  the 
head  to  be  thrust  out,  and  which  falls  rather  gracefully  over  their 
shoulders,  leaving  ample  room  for  the  play  of  their  arms  —  the 
head  covered  with  a  broad  straw  sombrero,  and  a  lasso  in  his 
girdle,  ready  for  use.  Such  is  the  appearance  of  the  rant-hero,  in 
time  of  peace,  or  when  engaged  in  his  ordinary  occupation.  Add 
to  this  a  long  lance  with  a  sharp  spear-head,  ornamented  wiih  a 
strip  of  red  bunting,  on  a  horse  as  savage  and  unmanageable  as 
himself,  his  belt  amply  supplied  with  pistols  and  knives,  and  you 
see  him  as  a  member  of  a  troop  of  banditti,  or  as  a  soldier  in  the 
body  of  cavalry.  Cowardly  as  they  universally  are  in  the 
open  field,  yet  in  a  conflict  among  the  chaparal  of  their  own 
country,  or  in  an  ambuscade,  they  are  indeed  a  formidable  foe. 
Their  power  of  enduring  fatigue  is  almost  incredible,  and  a  scanty 
meal  per  diem,  of  jerked  beef  and  plantain,  will  suffice  them  for 
months,  under  ordinary  circumstances.  Such  was  the  personal 
appearance  and  character  of  the  men  composing  the  guerrilla 
band,  into  whose  hands  we  had  the  misfortune  to  fall. 


IN     MEXICO.  25 


CHAPTER    III. 

A  Hunting  Excursion  —  Capture  —  Journey  to  Mier  —  Picking  Pockets  — 
Appearance  and  Character  of  Canales—  Thefiirst  night  of  our  Captivity — Novel 
Intervieiv  with  one  of  the  Rancheros  —  Sentence  qj  Death  —  Mexican  Character 
—  Interference  in  our  behalf —  Sentence  reversed  —  Our  fate  revealed. 

ON  the  thirteenth  of  October  (that  most  unlucky  day  of  all 
months,)  preparatory  to  departing  on  her  downward  trip,  the 
Ontario  entered  the  mouth  of  the  San  Juan  river  a  short  distance 
below  Camargo,  "  to  wood."  A  number  of  passengers  destined 
for  Matamoras  and  the  Brazos,  were  already  on  board,  among 
whom,  were  Dr.  Barry  and  Mr.  Cunningham,  alluded  to  in  the 
preceding  chapter.  While  the  boat  was  "  lying  to,"  those  gentle 
men  and  myself,  desiring  a  little  recreation  and  amusement,  went 
ashore  for  the,  purpose  of  shooting  deer,  amardilloes,  or  any  other 
game  which  so  abounds  in  the  chaparel  about  Camargo.  We  had 
advanced  perhaps  a  hundred  yards  in  the  thickets,  when  we  saw 
a  herd  of  deer,  slowly  and  lazily  receding  from  us,  as  if  conscious 
they  were  alluring  us  into  difficulty.  Forgetting,  for  the  moment, 
that  straggling  parties  of  armed  Mexicans  were  frequently  seen 
prowling  about  in  that  vicinity,  robbing  and  murdering  indiscrimi 
nately,  we  continued  the  chase  and  ventured  above  half  a  mile 
from  the  boat,  when  a  simultaneous  discharge  of  pieces  brought 
down  two  fine  stags.  With  that  degree  of  enthusiasm  which  sel 
dom  fails  to  attend  the  first  conquest  in  the  career  of  amateur 
sportsmen,  we  eagerly  rushed  upon  our  fallen  victims  to  apply  the 
knife.  Exulting  in  our  success,  and  engrossed  in  contemplating 
the  rich  and  sumptuous  feast  we  should  enjoy  ;  and  having  settled 
the  preliminaries,  as  to  how  the  "  saddles  "  should  be  served,  the 
reader  may  imagine  our  surprise  at  finding  ourselves  surrounded 
by  over  thirty  armed  and  savage  looking  Mexicans  !  Our  car- 
niverous  contemplations  were  quickly  succeeded  by  a  very  different 
sensation  about  the  stomach.  Prompted  by  the  same  feeling,  our 
first  impulse  was  to  offer  a  desperate  resistance,  and  sell  our  lives 
as  dearly  as  possible  ;  but  on  attempting  to  re-load  our  guns,  the 
banditti,  with  their  glittering  spears,  rushed  in  upon  us,  and  we 
were  immediately  captured  and  disarmed. 

In  such  a  crisis,  it  is  difficult  either  to  describe  or  imagine  one's 
feelings.  From  the  notoriously  desperate  character  of  those  into 
whose  hands  we  had  fallen,  nothing  better  than  an  unceremonious 
and  cruel  butchery  could  be  reasonably  anticipated.  The.situa- 
tion  of  Herr  Driesbach,  in  his  cage  of  lions  and  tigers,  would  have 
been  an  enviable  one,  compared  to  ours.  But  they  gave  us  no 
time  for  reflection  or  condolence,  even  had  the  time  or  occasion 
3 


26  DONNAVAN'S  ADVENTURES 

provoked  such  a  train  of  thought.  Tying  our  hands  behind  us, 
they  lashed  us  upon  the  backs  of  their  own  mustangs,  and  thus 
conveyed  us  some  thirty  miles,  before  sunset.  Our  entire  party 
halted  for  the  night  in  the  woods,  within  a  few  miles  of  the  town 
of  Mier,  whither  a  deputation  was  immediately  despatched  to  pur 
chase  a  supply  of  muscal.  Adhering  strictly  to  the  motto,  that 
"  to  the  victors  belong  the  spoils,"  they  now  proceeded  to  search 
our  pockets,  when  to  their  evident  mortification,  they  found  on 
our  persons  only  about  $70.  Of  this  amount,  together  with 
our  pen-knives,  pencils,  watches,  &c.,  we  were  relieved,  with  that 
peculiar  nonchalance,  so  characteristic  of  the  Spanish  brigand. 
Our  fate  was  yet  a  mystery,  and  after  binding  us  securely,  hand 
and  foot,  and  separating  us  at  a  distance  of  about  fifty  feet  from 
each  other,  they  commenced  drinking  muscal  and  playing  at  monte. 
The  night  was  made  hideous  by  the  howling  of  half  starved  wolves, 
and  the  unceasing  altercations  and  jangling  of  those  who  were 
unlucky  at  cards.  Sleep,  under  such  circumstances,  was  an 
"  obsolete  idea,"  and  the  morning,  instead  of  bringing  repose  to 
our  sore  and  jellied  flesh,  found  us  involved  in  dire  regrets,  and 
cogitating  on  the  certain  uncertainty  of  human  events.  Those 
few  of  our  captors  who  had  been  permitted  to  fall  into  a  broken 
and  troubled  slumber,  were  aroused  with  the  sun,  and  the  crowd 
gathered  menacingly  around  us.  From  their  gestures,  it  was  obvi 
ous  they  had  been  disappointed  in  not  finding  more  booty,  and 
were  grumbling  over  their  ill  luck. 

A  thought  here  struck  me,  which  I  doubt  not  was  the  means  of 
rescuing  us  all  from  a  sadder  fate.  With  a  very  indefinite  idea 
of  the  Spanish  language,  I  endeavored  to  make  them  understand 
that  two  of  us  were  practical  printers —  an  announcement  which  I 
well  knew  would  shield  a  man  from  robbery  in  the  United  Stales  — 
and  supposed  it  might  be  a  satisfactory  apology,  even  there,  for  the 
exhausted  condition  of  onr  finances.  They  failed  to  interpret  my 
Spanish,  when  a  young  man,  rejoicing  in  the  sobriquet  of  Poco  Lla 
ma  (little  flame.)  accosted  me  in  broken  English,  and  demanded 
an  explanation.  To  him  I  made  an  appeal,  in  all  the  eloquence 
such  an  occasion  might  inspire,  and  soon  succeeded  in  eliciting 
his  interest  in  our  behalf.  But  he  possessed  no  authority,  save  that 
which  sprang  from  the  respect  and  influence  he  had  gained  as  an 
interpreter.  The  most  prominent  figure  —  the  moving  spirit  and 
leader  of  the  band,  was  Canalles  —  brother  of  the  celebrated  Mex 
ican  General  and  guerrilla  chief  of  that  name  —  and  the  same  who 
was  recently  shot  at  Ceralvo.  He  was  an  old  man,  and  sat  on  a 
log,  at^some  distance,  leaning  lazily  forward,  with  his  elbows  on 
his  knees,  while  he  extracted  with  his  jack-knife,  the  rich  marrow 
from  the  thigh  bones  of  one  of  the  slags  we  had  killed  on  the  pre- 
"rious  day  —  they  having  taken  peaceable  possession  of  the  two 


IN       MEXICO.  27 

dead  carcasses,  and  brought  with  them  the  veritable  "  saddles"  of 
venison  which  had  excited  such  a  yearning  sympathy  in  our  own 
bosoms.  This  old  reprobate  was  eager  for  gain  ;  he  possessed  a 
keen  and  insatiable  desire  for  plunder.  Ostentatious  of  display. 
he  seemed  desirous  to  impress  us  with  some  evidence  of  his  supe 
riority  over  his  comrades  in  crime.  With  an  antique  and  dilapi 
dated  sombrero  stuck  jauntingly  on  one  side  of  his  grey,  bristly 
head  —  his  leathery  countenance  expressing  a  kind  of  reckless 
good  humor,  shadowed  out  from  his  austerity,  and  which  his  pres 
ent  discontent  could  not  wholly  banish  —  he  sat  venting  his  wrath 
and  disappointment  through  his  old,  toothless  jaws,  and  sinful  lips, 
in  a  succession  of  oaths  and  imprecations,  and  in  a  reckless  and  dis 
dainful  manner,  that  had  long  survived  his  youth.  Assuming  an 
air  of  anger  and  ferocity,  he  drew  around  him  the  entire  party, 
whose  exact  number  we  had  now  ascertained  to  be  thirty-three, 
and  announcing  that  we  should  all  be  dispatched  at  once,  he  or 
dered  his  men  to  perform  the  work  of  death  !  Although  this  in 
telligence  was  not  unexpected,  we  could  not  suppress  the  deep 
drawn  sigh  which  ever  accompanies  that  stern  and  solemn  verdict. 
How  rapidly  one  will  glance  over  the  reminiscences  of  past  life,  to 
dwell  upon  the  bright  spots  in  his  pilgrimage,  when  conscious  that 
his  career  is  about  to  close  forever !  Saints,  in  perfect  health  and 
security,  may  chaunt  their  choruses,  relLiously  asseverating  that 
"  they  would  riot  live  always,"  yet  when  they  come  to  give  up  the 
ghost,  and  find  iheir  last  tracks  on  time's  territory  suddenly  sliding 
into  the  dark  and  unexplored  regions  of  eternity,  they  are  apt  to 
manifest  a  desire  to  renew  their  lease  upon  life  —  and  to  hope, 
even  in  the  darkest  hour  of  despair.  Such  at  least  has  been 
our  experience.  Enterlaining,  as  we  all  did,  the  utmost  con 
tempt  for  our  "  chivalrous  captors"  — knowing  that  they,  as  well 
as  the  whole  Mexican  army,  were  a  people,  who  in  point  of  treach 
ery,  degradation,  and  cruelty,  stood  pre-eminent  among  all  nations 
under  the  canopy  of  heaven  —  yet  we  continued,  even  under  their 
sentence,  to  hope  that  through  some  unrevealed  intervnteion,  our 
lives  might  be  spared.  The  fact  need  not  be  concealed,  that  from 
their  meanest  soldier  to  their  best  general,  they  are  a  nation  of 
liars  and  plunderers.  There  are  a  few  honorable  exceptions,  it  is 
true,  but  more  modest  epithets  will  not  serve  truly  to  portray  their 
general  character.  —  The  gratification  of  their  sensual  desires 
seems  to  be  the  sole  object  of  life,  and  money  is  their  god.  The 
eternal  chink  of  change  is  their  national  music.  It  seems  to  burn 
in  their  pockets,  and  they  shake  it  to  keep  it  cool.  Boasting  of 
their  freedom,  they  buy  and  sell  their  own  free  citizens  !  There 
is  scarcely  an  officer  in  the  army,  from  Santa  Anna  down  to  Gen. 
Requina,  who  has  not  been  publicly  bought  and  sold.  Every  man 
has  his  price,  and  such  are  their  mercenary  natures,  that  many  of 


28  DONNAVAN'S     ADVENTURES 

them  consent  to  sell  their  souls,  and  stalk  about  in  the  miserable 
shell  of  mortality,  moving  libels  on  the  human  race,  plundering  and 
murdering  those  whose  more  virtuous  deeds  they  have  not  the  moral 
courage  to  imitate. 

Our  knowledge  of  this  "ruling  passion,"  considered  in  connec 
tion  with  the  fact  that  our  pockets  had  signally  failed  to  meet  their 
anticipations  of  gain,  gave  us  little  to  hope  for,  till  Poco  Llama 
conveyed  to  us  the  welcome  intelligence,  that  through  his  "special 
pleading,"  Canalles  had  reversed  his  former  sentence.  We  at  once 
felt  a  weighty  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  interpreter,  and  began  to 
regard  him  as  our  deliverer  ;  when  we  found  that  his  seeming  disin 
terested  interference  had  been  prompted  by  the  same  love  of  gain 
which  is  the  propelling  lever  to  every  Mexican  heart.  He  had  pre 
vailed  on  Canalles  to  spare  our  lives,  on  condition  that  he  himself 
would  sell  us  and  divide  the  proceeds.  We  could  enter  no  protest 
against  this  novel  proceeding,  although  in  our  former  capacity  of 
political  editor,  we  had  been  in  the  habit  of  preaching  "  give  me 
liberty  or  give  me  death,"  and  submitted  to  our  fate  with  apparent 
good  grace.  Unarmed,  and  out-numbered  as  we  were,  ten  to  one, 
sophistry  was  our  only  available  resource  — so  feigning  the  highest 
regard  for  the  people  and  institutions,  which  at  heart  we  abhorred, 
we  submitted  to  the  humiliating  spectacle  of  being  placed  "  under 
the  hammer,"  and  marched  off  to  be  employed  in  some  unknown 
Mexican  printing  office,  upon  a  comparatively  unknown  language. 


CHAPTER    IV- 

March  for  Ceralvo  —  Diet  —  Pinto  Indians  —  Insults  —  JVew  Jewelry  —  Sympa 
thy  among  the  Dutch  —  Road  to  Carmillo  —  Scenery  —  Hacienda  of  San  Ma- 
tero  —  Ancient  Ruins  —  Slavery  in  Mexico  —  Arrival  at  Carmillo  —  Beauty 
and  Amusements  —  A  Robber  pursuing  an  Indian  —  A  Mountain  Pabs — 
Death  among  the  Mustangs  —  Desolation  of  a  Rancho  — Arrival  at  Monclova  — 
Failure  to  sell  Prisoners  —  Confinement  in  Prison  —  Appearance  of  the  Prison 
and  Inmates  —  A  Mier  Prisoner  —  Reflections,  &fc. 

AFTER  an  hour's  consultation,  in  which  each  seemed  entitled  to 
a  hearing,  twelve  of  the  party,  with  Poco  Llama  at  their  head, 
were  deputed  to  guard  us  for  the  future.  To  convey  us  as  speed 
ily  as  possible  beyond  the  reach  of  the  American  forces,  each  was 
again  lashed  upon  a  mustang,  and  we  took  up  the  line  of  march 
for  Ceralvo,  a  distance  of  thirty-«six  miles.  Inured  to  a  degree  of 
abstemiousness  themselves,  that  would  do  credit  to  our  "  Graham- 
ites,"  they  had  not  furnished  us  with  a  particle  of  food  during  the 
twenty-four  hours  of  our  captivity,  and  with  a  promise  of  provid- 


IN       MEXICO. 


29 


ing  breakfast  for  us  at  the  first  rancho,  some  three  leagues  distant, 
we  were  galloped  off  at  a  rate  which  exercised  our  physical  func 
tions  in  a  manner  eminently  calculated  to  sharpen  the  appetite. 
But  sadly  had  we  realized  the  melancholy  fact  that  both  rancho 
and  repast  existed  only  in  the  imagination  of  our  inhuman  mast 
ers,  long  before  we  obtained  a  mouthful  of  refreshment.  Over 
hill  and  ravine,  through  plain  and  chaparel — the  thorns  of  which 
had  completely  riddled  our  clothes,  and  even  introduced  them 
selves,  in  the  most  abrupt  manner,  to  the  "  inner  man," — we  were 
dragged  and  driven,  till  the  night  brought  us  up  to  a  miserable 
meson  (tavern)  in  the  outskirts  of  Ceralvo.  There  we  were 
feasted  on  tough  beef,  boiled  in  pepper  sauce,  seasoned  with  gar 
lic,  tortillas  highly  spiced,  and  milk  which  tasted  like  water  thick 
ened  with  chalk.  Uninviting  as  would  have  been  a  collation,  con 
sisting  of  such  arcotics,  at  any  other  time,  the  aristocracy  of  our 
epicurianism  had  now  so  resolved  itself  into  democratic  vora 
city,  as  to  completely  dispel  all  thoughts  of  luxury  ;  and  we 
continued  to  gormandize  until  a  number  of  Pintos  gathered 
around  us,  who,  as  if  apprehensive  that  we  were  about  to  make  a 
"  clean  sweep,"  sat  down  on  the  floor  beside  us,  to  help  them 
selves.  The  tragic  manner  in  which  they  went  to  work,  justified 
the  conclusion  that  they  had  starved  as  long  as  ourselves  ;  so  we 
quietly  resigned  the  premises  to  our  new  adversaries.  We  after 
wards  ascertained  that  these  fellows  had  composed  a  part  of  the 
Mexican  army,  and  were  engaged  in  the  defence  of  Monterey,  on 
the  21st  of  the  preceding  month.  For  the  period  of  the  armistice 
they  had  been  discharged,  to  shift  for  themselves,  and  were  wan 
dering  through  the  towns,  sponging  a  miserable  sustenance.  They 
belonged  to  one  of  the  numerous  Indian  ^tribes,  and  are  called  Pin 
tos  from  the  fact  that,  after  arriving  at  manhood,  their  faces,  from 
some  cause  or  other,  which  I  did  not  hear  explained,  become  spot 
ted —  yellow  and  red.  I  presumed  these  variegated  colors  to  be 
the  result  of  some  mode  of  tattooing,  though  at  the  time  felt  quite 
indifferent  as  to  their  cause.  They  are  utterly  worthless  as  sol 
diers,  for  if  fired  upon  once,  they  never  stop  for  the  second  round. 
For  some  time  we  were  compelled  to  sit  and  endure  the  taunts  and 
insults  of  these  barbarous  bravadoes,  who  were  soon  joined  by  a 
new  recruit  of  swarthy,  ill-visaged  citizens,  to  rejoice  at  our  condi 
tion.  In  this  predicament,  our  ignorance  of  their  language  was 
rather  blissful,  as  we  failed  to  translate  their  personal  insinuations. 
It  was  not  until  after  we  had  made  an  earnest  appeal  to  Poco  Llama 
that  we  were  conducted  to  our  lodgings  for  the  night,  where  we 
were  locked  up  in  a  damp,  dismal  room,  without  a  window,  and 
left  to  select  the  softest  place  on  a  brick  floor,  upon  which  to  re 
cline  our  agitated  frames  —  while  the  guard  slept  before  the  door, 
stretched  out  upon  filthy  mats.  At  sunrise,  next  morning,  we 
3* 


30  DONNAVAN'S     ADVENTURES 

were  aroused  to  a  breakfast  of  boiled  rice  and  chili  ;  or  that  which 
might  be  more  appropriately  termed,  pepper  soup  —  to  be  swal 
lowed  hasty  enough  for  the  appetite  of  an  initiated  ranchero. 

Breakfast  despatched,  we  were  introduced  to  iron  hand  cuffs, 
procured  for  us  in  Ceralvo.  These  were  an  article  of  jewelry  Dr. 
Barry  peremptorily  refused  to  wear,  and  it  was  not  until  they  were 
forced  upon  his  wrists  that  he  consented  they  should  ornament  his 
person.  The  company  being  ready  to  start,  a  dispute  arose  be 
tween  the  landlord  and  our  leader  about  the  bill,  when  Poco 
Llama,  giving  us  to  understand  we  were  destined  to  Monclova, 
told  the  landlord  he  had  an  unprofitable  set  of  customers,  and 
pushed  on  through  the  town,  leaving  the  bill  to  "  settle  itself." 
The  next  town  of  any  importance  on  our  route  to  Monclova,  was 
Marin  ;  but  esteeming  an  approach  to  that  place  not  entirely  pru 
dent,  in  consequence  of  its  proximity  to  the  American  army,  then 
at  Monterey  —  twenty-six  miles  distant  —  we  pursued  a  mountain 
pass  136  miles,  across  to  Carmillo.  Meandering  along  this  narrow 
path  over  thirty  miles,  we  halted  on  the  third  night  at  a  small 
Dutch  settlement,  where  the  vrows  gave  us  some  excellent  butter 
milk  —  the  first  article  of  the  kind  we  had  drank  in  the  country, 
that  was  not  liberally  christened  with  water.  The  "  grub  "  at  this 
place  was  also  quite  palatable,  and  served  by  the  women,  whose 
gestures  seemed  to  express  a  lively  interest  in  rendering  us  com 
fortable,  with  sad  regrets  for  our  misfortunes.  They  could  "  nix- 
for-stay  "  the  cause  of  our  confinement  in  chains,  until  they  ex 
torted  a  lie  from  Poco  Llama,  who  told  them  we  had  been  detected 
and  captured  as  spies.  The  doors  had  neither  locks,  bolts,  nor  bars 
—  and  so  observing  the  signs  of  sympathy  manifested  for  us  among 
the  Dutch,  a  guard  was  placed  over  us  for  the  night. 

Our  route  to  Carmillo  continued  through  a  country  sparsely  pop 
ulated,  yet  rich  in  rugged  and  romantic  scenery.  Alternately  de 
scending  abruptly  into,  and  rising  from  deep  ravines,  then  passing 
over  immense  plains,  containing  little  vegetation,  except  prickly 
pear,  among  a  thin  and  dwarfish  musquite  or  chaparel,  we  travelled 
some  thirty  miles  per  day.  Reaching  the  hacienda  of  San  Ma- 
tero  on  the  18th,  we  stopped  for  the  night.  This  place  presented 
one  of  the  most  interesting  and  novel  pictures  we  had  yet  encoun 
tered.  The  hacienda  is  situated  twenty-six  miles  from  Monclova, 
on  the  bank  of  a  small,  clear  mountain  stream,  called  Agua  Pensa- 
tivo,  (pure  water,)  and  near  the  centre  of  a  lovely  basin,  some 
thirty  miles  in  circumference.  The  spot  bears  every  appearance 
of  having  once  been  a  populous  city.  Stone  foundations  are  to 
be  seen,  covering  many  acres.  Innumerable  columns  and  walls 
rise  up  in  every  direction,  composed  of  both  limestone  and  sand 
stone.  The  columns  are  built  in  a  variety  of  shapes,  some  round, 
others  square,  and  bear  every  imprint  of  the  work  of  human 


IN       MEXICO.  31 

hands.  In  many  of  them,  the  particles  are  so  closely  cemented 
as  to  leave  scarcely  a  trace  of  their  connection,  while  others  are 
crumbling  and  disjointed  at  their  base,  as  if  once  inundated  in 
some  mighty  current  that  had  swept  all  else  away,  leaving  bare  and 
bleached  these  isolated  monuments  of  its  power.  For  miles  in 
the  vicinity,  the  basin  is  covered  with  broken  pottery  of  burnt  clay, 
fantastically  painted  and  ornamented  with  a  variety  of  inexplicable 
designs,  which,  to  some  extent,  serves  to  reveal  the  advancement 
of  a  fallen  race  in  the  mechanic  arts. 

Whether  these  ruins  have  any  connection  with  those  of  South 
America,  is  not  known.  But  be  this  as  it  may,  at  some  future  day, 
when  a  civilized  and  enlightened  people  shall  succeed  the  present 
population,  some  geologist  or  antiquarian  may  reveal  the  secret  of 
their  existence.  The  Indians  pretend  to  preserve  an  imperfect 
tradition  of  the  remains,  while  the  Mexicans  believe  them  to  be 
the  ruins  of  some  ancient  city  of  the  Aztecs. 

The  hacienda  of  San  Matero  is  a  most  magnificent  and  exten 
sive  seat,  enclosing  about  ten  miles  square.  The  principal  edi 
fice  is  a  large,  two  story,  stone  building,  in  the  usual  style  of  that, 
country.  In  the  cultivation  and  supervision  of  his  ground,  he  em 
ploys  over  three  thousand  men,  many  of  whom  have  wives  and 
children  ;  so  that  the  population  must  amount  to  at  least  six  thou 
sand,  who  reside  in  rude  huts,  scattered  over  the  premises.  Here, 
as  on  the  haciendas  of  Mexico  generally,  the  laborers  are  slaves  — 
inconceivably  more  abject  and  servile  in  their  condition  than  those 
of  the  United  States.  By  a  law  of  that  boasted  republic  (?)  the 
poorer  classes  are  allowed  the  privilege  of  borrowing  small  amounts 
of  money  from  the  wealthy,  who,  to  secure  the  payment  of  the  in 
considerable  sums,  take  a  mortgage  on  their  persons.  The  con 
summation  of  the  marriage  contract,  in  many  of  the  provinces,  is 
also  an  essential  source  of  servitude.  The  fee  of  the  priest  on  such 
occasions  amounts  to  from  twenty  to  thirty  dollars  ;  a  sum  quite 
beyond  the  command  of  the  great  mass,  unless  they  meet  with  the 
good  fortune  to  steal  it.  The  priest  will  seldom  refuse  to  "  tie  the 
knot,"  however;  and  if  the  amount  be  no'  paid,  a  mortgage  is  exe 
cuted  upon  the  persons  of  those  who  voluntarily  become  indebted, 
and  they  are  slaves  to  all  intents  and  purposes  —  liable  to  be  trans 
ferred,  indefinitely.  It  is  true,  the  law  does  not  openly  recognize 
unconditional  slavery,  yet  it  justifies  the  mortgagee,  in  such  cases, 
in  charging  those  who  are  thus  placed  subject  to  his  control,  more 
for  their  boarding  and  clothing  than  their  wages  amount  to ;  so 
that  each  succeeding  year,  instead  of  discharging  any  part  of  the 
original  obligation,  the  laborer  but  increases  his  indebtedness,  and 
is  thus  held  in  perpetual  bondage.  Their  release  depends  upon 
one  single  condition:  if  from  disease,  or  accident,  or  through  any 
misfortune,  they  are  rendered  unable  to  perform  labor,  and  thus 


32  DONNAVAN'S     ADVENTURES 

become  unprofitable  subjects,  they  are  at  once  set  at  liberty,  and 
generally  denied  even  a  shelter,  where  they  have  perhaps  toiled 
for  years  in  servitude.  To  fathers  is  also  delegated  the  privilege 
of  subjecting  their  daughters  to  the  provisions  of  this  law,  and  for 
a  trifling  offence,  handsome  young  women  are  often  placed  in  ab 
ject  slavery  for  the  period  of  their  natural  lives,  by  their  unnatural 
sires. 

The  evening  of  the  following  day  brought  us  to  Carmillo,  a 
fairy-like  village,  whose  beauties  can  scarcely  be  surpassed  in  all 
the  expansiveness  of  the  wide  world.  It  is  such  an  Eden  as  our 
young  romantic  dreams  are  apt  to  picture;  where  Flora  is  forever 
building  up  her  bowers  —  where  willow  groves  and  fruit  trees  or 
nament  the  green  fields  —  where  the  orange  blooms  while  the 
golden  fruit  yet  hangs  upon  its  boughs.  This  village  reposes  at 
the  foot  of  a  majestic  hill,  whose  one  brow  frowns  upon  the  sil 
very  curents  of  the  Agua  Pensativo,  as  they  toss  their  white  and 
foamy  waves  against  the  rocks,  and  whose  other  casts  a  delightful 
shade  over  the  valley  at  noontide,  as  if  to  shield  the  pure  and  in 
nocent  flowers  from  the  envious  sunbeams  that  would  rob  them 
of  their  rainbow  hues.  We  entered  it  through  a  beautiful  grove 
of  palmetto  trees,  nearly  a  mile  in  length,  stretched  along  the  nar 
row  valley  of  the  small  stream,  where  the  Mexicans  were  ac 
tively  engaged  in  horse-racing,  as  a  kind  of  farce,  after  the  more 
tragic  spectacle  of  their  favorite  amusement  —  a  bull-fight,  had 
just  been  concluded.  A  more  delightful  spot  could  not  have  been 
selected,  and  it  was  literally  thronged  with  people  of  all  ages, 
classes,  and  sexes  —  Mexican  women  selling  pulque,  beer,  milk, 
fruit,  cakes,  candies,  and  other  nicknacks  —  and  every  thing  con 
spiring  to  remind  one  of  a  grand  gala-day  in  the  United  States. 
With  the  exception  of  several  groups  of  ferocious  looking  men, 
enveloped  in  thick,  heavy  blankets,  and  who  were  the  living  pic 
tures  of  Mexican  bravos,  every  body  seemed  just  as  happy,  gay, 
and  contented  as  if  their  unfortunate  country  was  not  overrun  by 
the  "  hairy  barbarians  of  the  North  —  the  degenerate  sons  of 
Washington,"  as  they  politely  term  us.  These  men  could  not 
restrain  their  feelings  of  exultation,  and  as  we  passed  on  through 
Cdtmillo,  they  followed  us,  uttering  their  hideous  yells  of  triumph 
over  our  helpless  situation. 

Stopping  at  a  miserable  rancho  near  Carmillo  over  night,  in  the 
fore  part  of  the  next  day  we  approached  a  nnrrow  mountain  pass, 
when  suddenly  the  deep  solitude  was  broken  by  an  Indian,  who 
made  the  woods  resound  with  the  echo  of  shrieks  from  his  stento 
rian  lungs.  He  was  pursued  by  a  Mexican  robber,  who  held  his 
musket  poised  for  a  shot.  Hurriedly  and  unexpectedly  they  dashed 
past  us,  from  the  woods  upon  a  broad  surface  of  rocks  and  sand 
interspersed  with  stunted  bushes,  at  a  pace  which  that  starved  and 


IN       MEXICO.  33 

tangled  chaparel  will  hardly  ever  live  to  again  witness.  The  rob 
ber  sometimes  tripped  and  fell.  The  thorns  and  branches  had 
torn  away  fragments  of  his  clothing,  and  bared  his  grey  head,  but 
intent  upon  his  victim,  he  cared  for  none  of  these  things.  All 
around  towered  high  hills,  half  cloihed  with  shaggy  forests,  while 
their  precipitous  crags  and  scars  of  avalanches  gave  them  an  ap 
pearance  of  savage  desolation.  These  nills,  in  the  province  of 
Coahuila,  are  the  terminating  ridge  of  that  chain  of  the  great  Cor 
dillera,  called  the  Sierra  Madre,  and  are  channeled  with  ravines, 
often  extending  from  top  to  bottom,  presenting  the  appearance  of 
deep  gashes  cut  in  their  sides.  Many  of  them  expand  and  grow  shal 
low  as  they  approach  the  base,  where  the  torrent  of  earth  and  stone 
spreads  itself  over  the  valley.  Up  such  an  ascent,  the  unarmed 
Indian  made  his  way,  pursued  by  his  furious  antagonist.  Our 
party  all  paused  to  witness  the  struggle.  A  little  stream,  whose 
waters  at  this  season  trickled  down  the  narrow  chasm  spreading 
over  the  rocks,  afforded  a  precarious  foothold  ;  but  the  frightened 
savage  groped  his  way,  the  sides  of  the  ravine  towering  above  his 
head,  and  leaving  only  a  strip  of  the  blue  sky  visible  between  their 
verging  edges.  A  "fire  in  his  rear"  was  suddenly  heard,  and 
the  mountains  bellowed  back  the  report ;  but  the  Indian  climbed 
unhurt,  gaining  rapidly  on  his  pursuer.  At  length  a  smooth  rock, 
nearly  perpendicular,  arrested  for  the  moment,  the  progress  of  the 
robber.  He  looked,  and  saw  nothing  of  his  prey.  At  the  re 
newed  activity  of  the  savage,  his  anger  and  disappointment  seemed 
to  generate  new  fury,  and  he  pressed  on.  His  sole  desire  seemed 
to  be  that  of  overtaking  and  slaying  the  Indian.  With  every 
physical  faculty  strained  to  its  utmost  tension,  he  worked  his  way 
up  the  precipice,  over  the  steep  wet  face  of  the  rock  ;  but  here 
he  was  compelled  to  pause,  and  while  his  blood  cooled,  he  became 
conscious  of  his  danger.  Above  him  he  could  find  no  crevices 
large  enough  in  which  (o  thrust  his  finger,  nor  a  projection  that 
his  foot  could  rest  against  —  beneath  he  saw  the  srmm.i  aj^Ies  of 
the  rocks  protruding  from  the  sides  of  the  ravine,  and  6e!ow  which 
all  lay  in  deep  blackness,  like  a  bottomless  gulf.  He  tried  to 
descend,  but  his  feet  found  nothing  to  support  them,  and  while 
dangling  thus,  over  the  awful  chasm,  his  gun  fell  from  his  grasp, 
dashing  from  side  to  side,  and  splintered  into  a  thousand  pieces. 
The  thought  that  he  must  perhaps  soon  follow,  appeared  to  urge 
him  almost  to  desperation.  The  grey  bristles  upon  his  old  head 
began  to  take  a  perpendicular  position,  and  perilous  as  was  the 
task,  he  ascended  to  the  top.  His  success  was  almost  miracu 
lous  ;  and  his  limbs,  aching  from  the  long  continued  strain  of 
every  muscle  —  the  ends  of  his  fingers  worn  to  the  bone  —  the 
flesh  rubbed  from  his  bare  knees —  and  his  heart  throbbing  with 
a  violence  unfelt  while  he  was  climbing,  his  energies  relaxed,  and 


34  DONNAVAN'S     ADVENTURES 

he  sank  down  under  the  effort.  In  the  heat  of  the  excitement, 
our  party  had  witnessed  the  scene,  unobserved  :  and  when  we  came 
up  to  the  exhausted  and  prostrate  robber,  in  an  instant  he  bounded 
upon  his  feet,  and  assumed  a  belligerent  attitude,  as  if  expecting  to 
meet  the  object  of  his  pursuit.  The  stern  rigor  of  his  features 
soon  changed  to  suppliancy,  and  he  immediately  began  to  warn 
our  'k  brave  captors"  of  the  imminent  danger  of  the  pass,  upon 
whose  very  threshold  we  then  stood.  We  had  approached  the 
edge  of  the  pass,  and  dismounted,  preparatory  to  crossing,  when 
a  fierce  shriek  called  one  of  our  party  back  to  the  robber.  But 
he  had  disappeared,  and  near  the  spot  where  we  had  left  him, 
stood  the  Indian  peering  down  upon  his  adversary  from  behind  a 
stunted  pine  that  projected  over  the  gulf.  He  had  turned  upon 
his  pursuer,  and  hurled  him  headlong  into  eternity,  over  the 
frightful  cliff! 

This  pass  is  within  seventeen  miles  of  Monclova,  and  is  re 
garded  as  the  most  perilous  in  the  hills  of  Coahuila.  Droves  of 
mules  and  mustangs  are  seldom  taken  over  it  without  serious  loss. 
So  narrow  is  the  passage,  that  if  an  animal  make  a  single  mis-step, 
he  is  precipitated  down  a  precipice  some  six  hundred  feet,  and  if 
not  dashed  to  pieces,  is  drowned  in  the  water,  unless  rescued  with 
the  lasso.  Two  of  the  rancheros  were  accordingly  stationed 
below,  on  the  bank  of  the  small,  deep  stream,  with  lassos,  while 
two  remained  behind  to  drive  the  mustangs.  Amid  their  shouts 
and  a  shower  of  stones,  the  animals  commenced  their  perilous 
journey,  with  their  noses  down  to  the  ground,  literally  smelling 
their  way  They  walked  carefully  along,  till  the  leader  had  nearly 
crossed  the  most  hazardous  place,  when  he  stumbled,  and  his 
hind  legs  were  precipitated  over  the  precipice.  With  his  fore 
feet  and  nose  he  continued  to  hold  on  to  the  narrow  path.  His 
successor  came  up,  and,  "  following  in  the  footsteps  of  his  prede 
cessor,"  was  soon  placed  in  the  same  perilous  position.  The 
third  mustang  knocked  the  noses  of  those  two  off  the  path,  and 
losing  his  own  gravity  by  the  act,  heels  over  head,  they  all  rolled 
down  the  steep  slope  together,  and  bounding  in  the  air  from  a  per 
pendicular  off-set,  they  were  plunged  into  the  torrent  below.  We 
thought,  of  course,  they  were  all  killed,  but  they  presently  rose 
up  from  the  surface,  looking  astonished  at  so  unceremonious  an 
immersion,  and  commenced  stemming  the  current.  During  this 
time,  all  eyes  were  turned  to  the  scene  below,  and  the  other  mus 
tangs  had  stopped,  evidently  unwilling  to  proceed  after  witness 
ing  the  fate  of  the  animals  so  suddenly  launched  into  the  "  undis 
covered  country."  They  were  again  started,  however,  and  all 
accomplished  the  pass  without  apparent  difficulty.  Only  one  of 
the  number  that  had  taken  a  telegraphic  jaunt  down  the  precipice, 
was  rescued  from  the  stream  alive,  and  he  was  left  on  the  ground 
in  a  dying  condition. 


IN    MEXICO.  35 

This  was  a  sad  misfortune  to  us,  as  the  loss  of  three  mustangs 
left  us  without  a  conveyance.  A  ranchero  is  constitutionally 
opposed  to  pedestrianism,  and  our  ponies  were  at  once  taken  to 
supply  the  places  of  those  that  had  been  lost.  The  prospect  of 
being  near  the  end  of  our  journey  was  some  consolation  ;  so  we 
set  off,  descending  the  mountain  on  foot,  among  the  sharp  stones, 
thorny  shrubs,  and  wild  maguey,  which  pierced  us  at  almost  every 
step.  We  soon  arived  at  a  small,  dingy  looking  rancho,  where  we 
expected  to  procure  refreshments,  but  were  sadly  disappointed. 
The  place  was  in  a  worse  state  of  confusion  than  the  people  about 
Babylon  ever  dreamed  of;  and  we  learned  that  a  party  of  Caman- 
cha  Indians,  twenty  or  thirty  in  number,  had  pounced  down  upon 
the  unsuspecting  denizens  on  the  previous  day,  killing  several  of 
the  men — plundered  the  houses  —  and  carried  off,  in  triumph, 
the  women  and  children  —  leaving  the  survivors  in  a  slate  of  sor 
row  bordering  on  phrenzy.  We  could  afford  to  feel  but  little 
sympathy  for  them,  as  that  article  was  nearly  exhausted  from  home 
consumption,  and  we  knew  that  they  only  wanted  the  opportunity, 
to  be  guilty  of  a  similar  outrage  themselves. 

Observing  several  mules  about  the  premises,  we  suggested  to 
Poco  Llama,that  he  should  furnish  us  with  the  luxury  of  such  a  con- 
veyancebut  he  disdainfully  refused  to  do  so,  stating  that  we  were 
now  quite  beyond  the  reach  of  the  "  Americanos,"  and  that  a  little 
exercise  might  serve  to  remind  us  of  our  obligations  to  him  for 
having  permitted  us  to  ride  as  far  as  we  had,  in  the  interior  of 
their  republic. 

Just  as  the  last  glimpses  of  departing  sunlight  were  fading  in  the 
far-off  west,  we  entered  the  city  of  Monclova,  the  capital  of  the 
province  of  Coahuila.  We  found  our  quarters  here  quite  com 
fortable,  and  our  fare  consisted  of  delicacies  to  which  we  had  long 
been  unused.  We  had  now  been  over  a  week  without  a  change 
of  clothes,  and  the  consequence  was,  we  were  more  ragged  and 
dirty,  than  the  rancheros  themselves.  Worn  down  by  the  fatigues 
we  had  encountered,  we  were  ready  for  almost  any  change  which 
would  place  us  beyond  the  control  of  our  present  masters.  Mon 
clova  was  the  first  place  where  we  were  permitted  to  enjoy  the 
luxury  of  a  decent  bed,  since  our  departure  from  Camargo,  and 
after  a  night  of  uninterrupted  repose,  we  were  aroused  by  our 
"  magnanimous  leader,"  who  had  brought  a  purchaser  to  examine 
us.  Slave  dealers  in  our  own  country,  like  other  merchants,  gen 
erally  bestow  some  pains  in  showing  off  to  the  best  advantage  their 
articles  of  traffic,  preparatory  to  a  sale  ;  but  we  experienced  no 
such  evidences  of  refinement,  and  presented,  by  no  means,  an  im 
posing  appearance.  The  individual  to  whom  we  were  offered  for 
sale  was  the  printer  of  a  small  eight  by  ten  sheet,  called  the 
"  Espanol "  He  surveyed  us  in  a  good  humored  manner,  and 


36  DONNAVAN'S     ADVENTURES. 

confessed, — as  we  learned,  that  he  should  be  really  pleased  to 
have  a  mortgage  on  us,  but  doubted  his  ability  to  raise  the  amount 
demanded.  We  never  ascertained  what  that  amount  was  ;  and 
with  the  understanding  that  he  would  make  an  effort  to  raise  the 
necessary  fundg,  he  departed,  promising  that  in  the  event  of  his 
success,  he  would  return  in  the  course  of  a  few  days,  to  renew  the 
negociation.  After  breakfast,  we  were  somewhat  surprised  upon 
learning  we  were  to  be  conveyed  to  the  common  prison,  to  take 
up  our  abode  in  the  mean  time.  Without  the  least  ceremony, 
we  were  at  once  marched  off  and  confined  in  this  common 
receptacle  for  all  sorts  of  criminals.  The  edifice  stands  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  the  city,  within  a  large  court  yard,  the 
entrance  to  which  is  secured  by  several  iron  gates,  which  it  had 
not  seemed  necessary  to  close.  The  approach  to  the  prison  forms 
a  succession  of  horrors,  the  gradual  increase  of  which  prepare  the 
mind  for  those  which  are  to  ensue,  and  are  a  fit  prologue  to  the 
unrevealed  miseries  yet  behind.  The  massive  doors,  with  their 
huge  fastenings  —  the  chains,  of  forms  and  sizes  as  various  as  the 
crimes  which  fill  the  heart  of  man,  and  hanging  upon  the  walls, 
as  if  in  mockery  of  the  ornaments  which  usually  adorn  ordinary 
dwellings  ;  the  thick  stone  walls,  through  which  the  passages 
seem  rather  to  be  cut  than  built,  cast  a  chill  upon  the  blood  when 
entering  —  and  the  heavy  weight  which  falls  upon  one's  animal 
spirits,  serves  more  to  check  respiration,  than  even  the  damp  floor 
of  the  prison  itself.  This  oppression  is  heightened,  too,  by  the 
scarcely  human  appearance  of  the  keepers,  who  swarm  about  the 
threshold  ;  and  who,  if  their  features  expressed  the  feelings  of 
better  men,  a  continued  commerce  with  the  most  abandoned,  and 
their  familiarity  with  crime,  have  changed  them  to  stoicism,  and 
blighted  every  purer  impulse.  But  painful  as  is  the  approach  to 
this  scene  of  horror,  each  succeeding  step  becomes  infinitely  more 
so.  We  were  ushered  into  a  long,  whitewashed  chamber,  lighted 
by  small  windows,  secured  by  iron  bars.  At  one  end  lay  the  mat- 
trasses  and  bedding  of  the  inmates,  rolled  up  in  as  small  a  com 
pass  as  possible,  and  at  the  other  a  leaden  sink,  furnished  with 
water  for  the  use  of  the  prisoners,  but  to  which,  from  every  appear 
ance,  the  premises  had  not  been  recently  introduced,  for  the  place 
was  filthy,  almost  to  suffocation.  A  t  the  same  time  so  bare  and  deso 
late  an  appearance  prevailed  throughout  the  room,  that  if  all  other 
circumstances  of  horror  had  been  absent,  there  was  enough  in  the 
mere  look  of  the  place  to  make  one  shudder.  But  the  people  — 
the  human  beings  who  were  to  be  our  companions  —  formed  a 
spectacle  the  most  revolting. 

During  the  day,  after  failing  in  repeated  attempts  to  engage  in 
conversation  with  those  whom  we  found  could  speak  only  the 
French  and  Spanish  languages,  we  at  length  came  up  to  a  pale, 


IN       MEXICO.  37 

emaciated  young  man,  who  seemed  to  be  in  the  last  stage  of  con 
sumption,  and  who,  to  our  utter  astonishment,  we  soon  found  to  be 
one  of  the  Mier  prisoners  !  He  had  been  kept  in  confinement 
since  1836.  His  name  was  Preston  Oakley,  and  he  was  among 
those  who  were  supposed  to  have  perished  in  the  hills  of  Coahuila, 
after  the  escape  of  himself  and  party  from  Salado.  He  had  been 
picked  up  by  a  ranchero,  in  an  unconscious  state,  produced  from 
thirst  and  hunger,  and  after  recovering  was  placed  in  the  mines  at 
Lake  Cayman,  where  he  had  remained  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth 
until  last  February,  at  which  time,  suffering  the  almost  dying  ag 
onies  incident  to  a  broken  constitution,  he  was  brought  to  this 
den  of  vice  and  misery,  for  the  purpose  of  recovering  health  and 
strength,  to  enable  him  to  resume  his  labors.  His  sight,  which 
he  had  entirely  lost,  in  the  deep,  dark  caverns,  had  not  yet  been 
wholly  restored,  and  his  pale  features  looked  as  if  they  had  robbed 
the  spirit-land  of  half  its  ghastliness.  Ten  years  without  a  sylla 
ble  of  intelligence  in  regard  to  the  fate  of  his  comrades,  or  from 
his  home,  his  joy  at  meeting  us  may  be  appreciated  only  by  those 
who  have  passed  through  like  adventures.  The  circumstances  by 
which  we  ourselves  were  surrounded,  and  the  unknown  future  that 
had  yet. to  reveal  our  destiny,  awoke  at  once  our  sympathy,  and 
inspired  us  with  a  deep  interest  in  the  history  of  his  sufferings, 
which,  as  he  recounted,  his  lean,  skinny  hand  would  wipe  an  oc 
casional  tear  from  his  cadaverous  cheek.  It  was  long  before  he 
had  concluded  his  succession  of  inquiries.  Sunk  in  the  deep  de 
pression  of  despondency,  he  had  no  hope  of  ever  returning  to  his 
native  land  ;  and  he  earnestly  implored  us,  in  the  event  of  our  re 
lease,  to  inform  his  friends  where  and  in  what  condition  we  had 
met  him,  and  that  he  should  soon  be  beyond  the  reach  of  oppression. 

On  the  succeeding  day,  after  breakfast,  which  was  served  on  a 
long  deal  table,  stretched  across  the  room,  with  rude  benches  on 
either  sic'e,  we  began  to  tax  our  philosophy  to  invent  some  means 
of  occupying  the  time.  We  endeavored  to  bury  the  realities  of 
the  present,  by  imagining  ourselves  in  the  "halls  of  the  Montezu- 
mas  ;"  but  the  groups  of  the  haggard  shadows  of  humanity,  which 
gathered  around  us,  forbade  such  a  conclusion,  and  we  finally  sat 
down  in  our  tattered  and  unfashionable  garbs,  while  young  Oakley 
pointed  out  some  of  the  prominent  characters,  and  gave  us  such 
information  relative  to  them  as  had  come  to  his  own  knowledge. 

Near  the  chimney  was  a  miserable,  dwarfish-looking  old  man, 
wrapped  in  a  blanket  as  venerable  as  himself,  reading,  or  rather 
spelling,  a  hymn  book,  which  had  been  given  him  by  one  of  the 
priests,  who  are  always  about  the  prisons  of  Mexico.  He  had  been 
arrested  for  stealing  goats  from  a  neighbor,  and  was  awaiting  his 
trial.  On  the  opposite  side,  three  men,  each  of  whom  was  heavily 
ironed,  were  walking  to  and  fro.  At  every  step  their  fetters  rung 
4 


38  DONNAVAN'S     ADVENTURES 

on  each  other,  and  the  regularity  of  their  paces,  produced  a  dull, 
monotonous  sound,  as  sad  as  the  groans  which  may  be  imagined 
to  proceed  from  the  prison  caverns  of  the  damned.  They  had 
been  condemned  for  burglary,  a  crime,  although  entirely  fashiona 
ble,  punishable  with  death,  when  committed  on  the  property  of 
the  rich  and  influential.  They  seemed  wholly  unconscious  of  the 
presence  of  any  other  persons  in  the  room.  In  their  actions  might 
be  traced  a  bitter  feeling  of  remorse — not  repentance  of  their 
crimes  —  but  regret  that  they  had  been  reduced  to  this  helpless 
and  hopeless  condition.  A  rather  superior  character  to  these  crim 
inals  was  a  Frenchman,  who  sat  near  us.  His  mind  had,  to  a  cer 
tain  degree,  been  refined  by  education  and  travel,  and  he  conversed 
fluently  in  the  English  and  Spanish,  as  well  as  French.  His 
crime  consisted  in  a  refusal  or  neglect  to  observe  a  due  degree  of 
deference  to  the  requisitions  of  the  church  ordinances.  In  a  state 
of  feverish  anxiety,  he  was  expostulating  with  himself,  upon  the 
injustice  of  his  detention,  and  the  impossibility  of  further  punish 
ment. 

While  engaged  in  curious  speculations,  and  thinking  what  strange 
lessons  of  the  human  heart  were  to  be  learned  in  a  school  like  this, 
we  saw  a  woman  enter  the  prison,  dressed  in  a  splendid,  but  some 
what  awkward  manner.  She  was  approaching  a  handsome  featured 
young  man,  who  was  engaged  in  writing  a  letter  at  the  further  end 
of  the  table.  She  hung  over  him,  as  if  whispering  words  of  conso 
lation  and  deliverance,  and  when  she  looked  up,  I  recognized  that 
"  dangerous  gift  of  beauty  "  which  had  lured  so  many  of  her  sex  to 
the  most  fatal  destruction.  The  appearance  of  these  two  persons, 
in  this  place  of  unmixed  wretchedness,  and  among  people  on  whom 
privations  and  confinement  had  fixed  their  hard  and  degrading 
stamp,  formed  a  distressing  contrast.  The  young  man  was  of  pure 
Spanish  blood,  and  had  been  an  artist  —  respectable  in  his  profes 
sion.  He  had  long  been  pursuing  a  dishonest  course,  and  being 
finally  detected  in  counterfeiting,  was  condemned  to  death.  The 
female  had  shared  his  short-lived  prosperity,  and  now  with  a  rare 
fidelity,  clave  to  him  in  his  lost  and  fallen  fortunes,  when  all  the 
world  beside  had  abandoned  him.  This  instance  of  the  power  of 
that  passion  which  rules  the  world,  struck  me  as  being  infinitely 
more  remarkable  than  many  of  those  proofs  of  female  affection 
which  are  cited  as  heroic.  .^>;) 

Here  were  two  persons  whose  lives  had  been  base  and  profligate 
to  the  last  degree  —  that  of  the  woman  too  vile  to  think  upon  — 
and  yet  that  holy  and  purifying  passion,  which  neither  vice,  nor 
crime,  nor  misery  could  extinguish,  now  seemed,  as  it  were,  to 
triumph  over  all.  And  in  the  very  hour,  when  it  was  the  turn  of 
the  most  hateful  qualities  to  have  uncontrolled  sway  —  when  every 
inducement,  even  the  opinion  of  the  world  —  of  that  world  by 


IN       MEXICO.  39 

which  both  had  been  abandoned  —  was  in  favor  of  her  deserting 
the  man,  she  was  impelled,  by  the  unaided,  irresistible  power  of 
her  affections,  to  comfort  his  hapless  wretchedness  ;  to  strip  herself 
of  all  she  possessed  to  lighten  the  burdens  of  a  wicked  soul  that 
was  about  to  be  denied  a  frail  habitation  upon  the  earth  —  and 
this,  too,  for  a  man  whose  claims  upon  her  affection,  if  they  could 
have  been  estimated,  were  probably,  as  such  men's  claims  mostly 
are,  less  than  that  which  he  would  have  had  upon  a  brute,  destitute 
of  reason  !  That  intelligent  and  virtuous  females  know  no  limits 
in  their  exertions  for  men  whom  they  love,  excites  no  wonder,  for 
it  is  the  result  of  sincere,  ardent,  and  pure  attachment ;  but  that  a 
woman,  divested  of  the  most  estimable  attributes  of  her  sex,  de 
graded  in  mind  and  in  person,  regarded  by  the  better  part  of  society 
as  an  anomaly  —  a  monster,  belonging  to  neither  sex,  but  the  re 
proach  of  both  — that  she  should,  in  the  depth  of  her  debasement, 
practice,  and  in  one  instance,  at  least,  feel  the  same  devoted  virtue 
which  would  have  added  dignity  to  the  most  exalted  of  women  — 
that  she  should  do  this,  with  a  disinterestedness  which  admits  of 
no  doubt ;  for  the  object  of  her  love  was  a  wretched  criminal, 
whose  days  were  numbered,  and  whose  name  was  wedded  to  dis 
grace  and  contempt  —  this  is  what  excited  my  astonishment,  and  the 
highest  veneration  for  the  passion  which  can  work  such  wonders. 

"  The  treasures  of  the  deep  are  not  so  precious 
As  are  the  concealed  comforts  of  a  man, 
Locked  up  in  woman's  love !" 


CHAPTER    V- 


Release  from  Prison  at  Mondova  —  Punishment  of  Criminals  —  Advance  of 
Gtn.  Wool's  Army  —  Our  departure  for  Zacatecas  —  Mexican  Expresses  — 
Parras  —  Novel  Funeral  procession  —  Burial  of  a  Muchacha  —  Lake  of 
Parras  —  Rio  Grande  de  Parras  —  Diet  —  Musquitos  —  Degradation  of 
Females  —  Implements  of  Husbandry  —  An  Indian  City  —  Indian  Fortifica 
tions  —  Indian  Women  —  Captured  by  the  Indians  — Crossing  a  River  — 
Attempt  to  Escape  —  Drowning  of  a  Ranchero  —  Towns  and  Cities  —  Fres- 
nillo  —  Catholic  Procession  —  Arrival  at  Zacatecas. 

THERE  are  tragedies  in  real  life,  which,  but  for  their  every-day 
occurrence,  would  penetrate  men's  souls  deeper  than  all  the  fabled 
woes  that  poets  ever  yet  imagined.  They  consist  of  that  war 
which  crime  is  ever  waging  upon  the  dark  soul  of  its  victim ;  and 
it  is  revolting  to  be  compelled  to  gaze  upon  sorrows  one  has  not 
the  means  to  alleviate — still  more  humiliating  to  endure  privations 
he  has  no  power  to  avenge.  During  the  brief  term  of  five  days' 


40  DONNAVAN'S     ADVENTURES 

confinement  within  the  gloomy  walls  of  the  prison  at  Monclova, 
among  criminals  condemned  to  die,  I  received  impressions  which 
years  will  not  suffice  to  obliterate.  It  is  impossible  to  contem 
plate,  without  the  deepest  pain,  spectacles  of  degradation,  which 
there  became  "  familiar  as  honsehold  words."  Laying  aside  the 
enormity  of  their  crimes  and  the  justice  of  their  punishment,  the 
discipline  of  a  Mexican  prison  and  the  tortured  agony  of  its  in 
mates  are  enough  to  paralyze  the  cold  and  rigid  sensibilities  of  a 
Siberian  serf.  As  I  would  sit  and  contemplate  this  mass  of  con 
scious  helplessness  and  misery,  my  mind  would  naturally  translate 
itself  to  my  own  country,  and  indulge  in  comparisons.  I  thought 
what  a  glorious  field  here  presented  itself  for  the  benevolent  pur 
poses  of  Miss  Dix,  whose  disinterested  efforts  to  restrain  the  rig 
orous  discipline  of  the  prisons  of  the  United  States,  have  made 
many  a  penitent  heart  glad.  But  the  melancholy  history  of  un 
fortunate  Mexico,  records  rare  examples  of  pure  and  elevated  vir 
tue,  combined  with  accomplishments  like  hers.  Indeed,  had 
"  Solomon,  in  all  his  glory."  lived  out  his  days  there,  his  remark — 
"  who  can  find  a  virtuous  woman  ? — her  price  is  far  above  ru 
bies  !" — would  doubtless  have  been  esteemed  as  profound  as  in 
his  own  Oriental  land. 

The  establishment  of  no  penitentiary  system  is  authorized  by 
the  penal  code  of  Mexico.  Capital  punishment  is  frequently  in 
flicted  "  by  authority,"  for  the  most  trivial  offences  ;  but  when  the 
crime  of  the  transgressor  does  not  merit  such  severity,  the  laws 
condemn  him  to  serve  in  the  army,  for  a  certain  period  of  time, 
stipulated  in  accordance  with  the  enormity  of  his  offence.  Thus, 
the  position  of  a  soldier  in  the  defence  of  his  own  soil,  which  is 
every  where  else  an  honor,  is  there  rendered  a  disgrace.  The 
law's  delay  is  often  more  annoying  to  the  criminal  than  satisfying 
the  ends  of  justice.  In  the  capital  of  each  province  is  a  prison 
resembling  that  at  Monclova,  in  all  of  which  men  are  frequently 
confined  twenty  years,  without  trial,  conviction,  or  sentence. 

No  sooner  had  the  rumor  of  Gen.  Wool's  approach  towards 
Monclova  reached  the  ears  of  our  captors,  than  we  were  imme 
diately  released  from  our  inhospitable  abode,  with  a  hope  that  we 
should  not  only  find  better  quarters,  but  more  agreeable  compan 
ions.  We  soon  learned,  however,  that  owing  to  the  rapid  ad 
vance  of  the  American  army,  we  had  the  high  prerogative  of  ad 
vancing  before  them,  and  were  compelled,  at  once,  to  take  up  the 
line  of  march  towards  Parras,  with  a  fair  prospect  of  a  pedestrian 
excursion  to  Zacatecas,  four  hundred  and  forty-five  miles  further 
into  the  interior.  The  authorities  at  Monclova  received  intelli-, 
gence  of  the  advance  of  Gen.  Wool,  three  days  before  his  arrival ; 
and  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that,  although  their  facilities  seem  to 
be  inferior,  they  always  manage  to  compete  with  us  in  despatch- 


IN       MEXICO.  41 

ing  an  express.  This  may  be  attributed  to  the  fact  that  the  law 
authorizes  the  rider  to  supply  himself  with  a  fresh  mule  or  mus 
tang,  at  every  rancho,  if  necessary,  and  to  always  take  the  fleetest. 

In  less  than  four  days  after  our  departure,  we  reached  Parras,  a 
distance  of  one  hundred  and  forty-three  miles  from  Monclova. 
This  was  "  walking  Spanish,"  with  a  degree  of  expedition  which 
would  do  credit  to  the  efforts  of  Gildersleive,  or  any  other  pedes 
trian.  On  the  night  preceding  our  arrival  in  town,  we  remained 
at  the  rancho  of  Don  Manuel  Ibarra.  The  Don,  with  his  brother, 
and  several  other  citizens  of  the  town,  had  been  educated  at  Bards- 
town,  Ky.,  and  conversed  remarkably  well  in  English.  Besides 
being  quite  civilized  himself,  he  entertained  us  in  a  civilized  man 
ner  ;  and  his  wine  came  near  raising  our  independence  so  far 
above  zero,  as  to  burst  our  chains,  and  declare  in  favor  of  the 
"  largest  liberty."  He  asked  many  questions  about  Bardstown, 
and  seemed  to  revert,  with  peculiar  relish,  to  the  place  of  his 
schoolboy  haunts  ;  and  while  he  made  no  effort  to  restrain  his  indig 
nation  at  seeing  us  hand-cuffed,  he  offered  no  substantial  relief. 

Parras  is  a  perfect  paradise  of  a  place.  It  is  celebrated  for  the 
extensive  vineyards,  which  spread  out  in  every  direction  from  its 
vicinity,  and  for  its  manufacture  of  wines,  pulque,  muscal,  and  ar- 
diente.  The  streets  were  all  clean  and  in  good  repair,  while  in 
every  door,  and  at  every  window,  beautiful  senoras  and  senoritas 
made  their  appearance,  who  did  not  suppress  their  feelings  of 
deep  commiseration,  as  we  passed.  It  was  some  high-church  day 
among  the  natives,  and  observed  as  a  fete.  The  streets  were 
thronged  with  Mexicans  —  men,  women,  and  children,  all  of  whom 
appeared  to  have  been  washed  and  dressed  up  for  once  in  their 
natural  lives,  at  least.  In  the  morning,  before  we  arrived,  there 
had  been  a  grand  and  imposing  procession,  and  during  the  remain 
ing  portion  of  the  day,  there  was  a  general  cavorting  or  vamosing 
through  the  streets.  Those  of  their  soldiers  who  had  participated 
in  the  battle  of  Monterey,  had  returned,  under  the  weight  of  the 
laurels  they  had  won  in  that  bloody  conflict,  and  were  warmly  ap 
plauded  by  the  priests  and  ignorant  officials,  who  seem  to  regard 
every  engagement  as  a  victory,  however  fatal  to  them  the  fortunes 
of  the  day. 

All  nations  have  their  different  customs,  just  as  all  individuals 
have  their  distinguishing  characteristics  ;  and  in  a  strange  country, 
to  a  stranger,  both  are  often  interesting.  In  the  evening,  we  wit 
nessed  a  most  novel  ceremony.  It  was  the  occasion  of  the  burial 
of  a  muchacha,  a  small  female  child.  The  excitement  created  by 
the  fete,  had  been  the  means  of  collecting  together  a  large  assem 
blage  ;  so  that  the  public  places  were  all  filled  to  overflowing, 
and  our  caravan,  "  horse,  foot,  and  dragoons,"  experienced  much 
difficulty  in  finding  a  place  of  entertainment.  While  sauntering 
4* 


42  DONNAVAN'S     ADVENTURES 

through  the  streets,  under  the  vigilant  eyes  of  our  haughty  masters, 
our  attention  was  first  arrested  by  the  sight  of  a  priest,  clad  in  a 
white  robe  ornamented  with  various  emblems  pertaining  to  the  Cath 
olic  church,  coming  out  of  the  cathedral,  preceded  by  four  small 
boys,  in  their  scarlet  under-robes,  and  white  mantles,  each  bearing 
a  candle  branch  ;  while  the  dolefully  discordant  ringing  of  the 
bells  apprised  us  that  something  unusual  was  on  the  tapis.  They 
had  not  proceeded  far  till  the  priest  entered  a  small  house,  around 
which  had  assembled  a  number  of  males  and  females.  Our  ears 
were  soon  saluted  by  an  unearthly  sound,  which  the  natives  dig 
nify  with  the  name  of  music,  but  which  if  Shakspeare  meant 
should  move  all  who  were  fit  for  nought  but  "  treasons,  stratagems, 
and  spoils/'  he  was  quite  mistaken.  The  sound  was  produced  by 
three  fiddles,  and  a  venerable-looking  individual  with  a  large  vio 
loncello,  each  playing  a  distinct  and  separate  tune,  if  tunes  they 
might  be  called,  and  accompanied  by  several  voices,  in  an  unintel 
ligible  chant.  While  this  novel  performance  was  going  on  within, 
three  men  without  were  engaged  in  throwing  small  rockets,  which 
exploded,  making  a  report  as  loud  as  that  of  a  pistol.  It  was  not 
long  till  the  padre  and  altar  boys  came  out,  preceded  by  the  mu 
sicians,  and  followed  by  the  corpse,  borne  on  the  shoulders  of  four 
men.  The  bier  was  composed  of  a  short,  rough  box,  having  an 
upright  cross  at  the  head,  shrouded  with  white  muslin,  and  cov 
ered  with  a  profusion  of  artificial  flowers,  and  other  ornaments, 
tastefully  arranged.  At  the  top  of  the  bier  was  a  dingy  brown 
figure,  about  two  feet  in  length,  enveloped  in  a  velvet  robe,  deco 
rated  with  gold  and  silver  tinsel,  and  upon  its  head  a  bright  brass 
crown,  confining  a  mass  of  long,  raven  hair.  The  hands  of  the 
figure  were  clasped  closely  over  the  breast,  and  presented,  as  did 
the  features,  the  appearance  of  wax.  From  the  house,  the  funeral 
procession,  which  was  small,  proceeded  to  the  church,  where 
we  presume  the  service  was  performed  by  the  priest.  At  least  the 
fiddling  and  chanting  soon  ceased,  and  the  procession  came  out. 
The  body  was  then  conveyed  about  half  a  mile,  to  a  consecrated 
burial  ground,  unaccompanied  by  the  priest,  but  still  preceded  by 
the  fiddlers,  and  men  with  the  rockets.  Our  captors,  whether  in 
respect  to  the  deceased,  or  from  a  sense  of  religious  duty,  all 
joined  in  the  procession,  and  we  were  also  required  to  accompany 
them.  Before  arriving  at  the  graveyard,  it  was  necessary  to 
ascend  a  hill,  at  the  base  of  which  all  the  paraphernalia  was  left. 
Here,  to  our  surprise,  that  which  we  had  all  considered  a  wax 
figure,  sacred  to  the  memory  of  the  Virgin  of  Gaudaloupe,  and 
which  I  have  described,  was  the  body  of  the  poor  little  infant  it 
self,  whose  soul  had  been  transported  to  heaven,  there  to  join  its 
purer  kindred  spirits. 

A  strange  tradition  is  connected  with  the  history  of  the  imagi- 


IN       MEXICO.  43 

nary  Virgin  of  Gaudaloupe,  and  the  annual  festivals  which  are  held 
in  honor  of  her  first  appearance.  The  natives  contend  that  she 
first  introduced  herself  to  an  Indian  shepherd,  in  the  early  con 
quest  of  Mexico  by  the  Spaniards,  and  commanded  him,  "in  the 
name  of  Mary,  the  mother  of  God,"  to  summon  the  bishop  to  her 
presence.  The  bishop  refused  to  attend  until  satisfactory  evidence 
was  produced  that  the  shepherd  had  not  conjured  up  an  imaginary 
vision  to  deceive  him  —  after  which  he  erected  a  magnificent 
church  on  the  spot  where  she  had  first  appeared  to  the  Indian  — 
and  the  anniversary  of  the  day  is  yet  observed  as  one  of  their 
holiest  holidays.  A  wax  figure  of  full  size,  representing  the  vir 
gin,  is  often  used  on  funeral  occasions,  which  led  us  to  an  erro 
neous  conclusion  on  this.  The  funeral  obsequies  of  the  child 
were  brief,  and  I  could  not  help  remarking  that  there  was  no 
apparent  expression  of  sorrow  or  regret  among  the  friends,  but  it 
seemed  to  be  more  an  occasion  for  rejoicing.  A  number  of  the 
Mexicans  who  mingled  in  the  procession,  perhaps  from  motives 
of  curiosity,  appeared  highly  pleased  at  seeing  American  specta 
tors  present,  and  one  of  them  asked  me  if  I  did  riot  think  it  mucho 
bueno — meaning,  very  beautiful  ! 

Parras  contains  about  fifteen  thousand  inhabitants;  it  is  located 
near  the  line,  but  within  the  limits  of  the  province  of  Coahuila. 
Some  distance  from  the  city,  on  the  west,  is  a  beautiful  lake  bear 
ing  the  same  name,  and  the  waters  of  which  serve  to  irrigate  the 
grounds  for  miles  in  circumference.  We  had  remained  in  the 
city  till  the  afternoon  of  the  day  succeeding  our  arrival,  and  after 
our  departure,  encamped  for  the  night  upon  the  banks  of  this 
lake,  which  is  over  thirty  miles  in  length,  and  varying  in  width 
from  five  to  twelve  miles.  It  was  sunset  when  we  sat  down  at 
the  end  of  our  day's  journey,  and  the  dark  blue  hills  in  the  neigh 
borhood  looked  like  chains  of  amethysts  in  a  golden  setting.  The 
placid  waters  faithfully  mirrored  back  the  beautiful  vision,  only  as 
with  a  light  gauzy  veil  breathed  over  it.  There  were  orange 
groves  of  no  ideal  ki»d  ;  and  the  perfumes  of  odoriferous  gums 
filled  the  atmosphere.  Acacia  shrubs,  interwoven  with  wild  lilac 
and  blue-colored  parasite,  flourished  on  the  banks,  whose  refresh 
ing  fragrance  seemed  infinitely  richer  than  the  breath  of  spring 
in  our  own  fields  and  woods,  during  the  fairest  season  of  the  year. 
The  delusion  was  enough  to  make  us  forget  the  gloom  which 
gathered  round  our  own  destiny,  till  the  wild  doves  upon  the  palm 
branches,  in  all  their  native  liberty  set  up  their  mournful,  melan 
choly  notes.  Montezuma  hens  were  gathered  in  clusters  upon  the 
banks,  and  a  variety  of  water-fowl,  some  marble  white,  others 
raven  black,  were  chirping  out  their  monotonous  evening  songs. 
Large  flocks  of  pelicans  were  floating  over  the  lake,  and  occa 
sionally  the  heron  with  his  heavy-flapping  wings,  would  agitate 


44  DONNAVAN'S     ADVENTURES 

the  bosom  of  the  clear  blue  waters  —  for  the  birds  in  Mexico,  like 
every  thing  else,  animate  or  inanimate,  are  supplied  with  horns 
After  the  sun  had  entirely  sunk  behind  the  Pacific,  on  his  diuinal 
course  to  enlighten  the  opium  eaters  of  the  Celestial  Empire,  the 
evening  glow  faded  away,  but  a  still  softer  radiance  came  to  clothe 
the  pale  mountains  with  rosy  tints.  The  shining  stars  had  risen, 
looking  out  like  angel's  eyes  upon  the  lake,  with  none  of  that 
glimmering,  as  if  they  trembled  with  cold,  which  is  seen  in  our 
clear  winter  nights.  Their  bright  shadows  were  mirrored  in  the 
lovely  lake,  across  whose  silvery  flood  pueblas  floated  in  their 
rude  gondolas,  as  if  between  two  heavens.  Along  the  banks  life 
was  stirring.  Fires  were  burning  at  the  hearths,  before  the  doors 
of  the  huts  of  the  rancheros  ;  flocks  of  bleating  sheep  and  goats 
were  moving  homeward;  and  the  barking  of  smooth,  hairless 
dogs,  the  singing  of  men,  and  shouting  of  children,  swelled  the 
concert,  and  served  to  beguile  the  hours  of  a  sleepless  night. 

For  several  consecutive  days,   our  route   continued  along    the 
bank  of  the  Rio  Grande  de  Parras,    (Grand  river  of  Parras,)  the 
waters  of  which  flow  into  this  lake  ;  some  nights  stopping  at  ran 
cheros  and  haciendas,  others  in   the   woods,  with   no  shelter   but 
the  dark  blue  roof  of  the  world.     At  the  rancheros  we   found  an 
addition  to  the  usual  diet  in  the   shape  of  wild   fowls,  often   well 
cooked,  and  whose  carcasses  we  demolished  with  a  decided  relish. 
An  improvement  was  also  perceptible  in  the  appearance  of  many 
of  the  women,  whose  pretty  faces  we  could  not  well  avoid   look 
ing  at,  and  who,  although  they  were  rather  shy  and   inclined   to 
shun  us  at  first,  would  generally  approach  us  without  much   sign 
of  fear,  before  we  left.      The   picturesque  grouping  of  the  man 
grove  and   banana,  to  say   nothing  of  the  palm   so   abundant  on 
the  banks  of  this  river,  could  not  but  excite  our  admiration.     But 
it  is  seldom  we   experience   a   pleasing  sensation    unalloyed   with 
something  of  the   portentous  or  opposite  ;  and  while  enjoying  the 
incomparable  beauty  of  this   Mexican   river,  we  were  not  only 
annoyed  with  an  oft  returning  sense  of  wrongs  inflicted  by  human 
hands,  but  by  swarms  of  sand  flies,  and   broods  of  musquitos,   of 
the  largest  size,  and  keenest  bills,  the  loudest  singers,  and    sharp 
est  biters  in  the  universe.     Their's   is  no  guerilla  warfare,  but  a 
bold,  manly  attack  in  front.     The  fatigues  of  a  hard   day's  jour 
ney  was  no  security  against  one  of  their  charges,  and   even   the 
tough-skinned  Mexicans  were  not  impervious  to  their   assualts  — 
notwithstanding  Poco  Llama  had   proved  himself  constitutionally 
opposed  to  settling  bills.     We  may   talk   as   we  will   about   the 
beautiful  skies  of  Mexico,  her  balmy  gales,  and  the  gaiety  of  land 
scape,  which  can  hardly  be  conceived   in   less  sunny   climes  —  it 
will  fascinate  the  imagination,  but  will  not  shield  us  from  the  bar 
barous  cruelty    of   her  musquitos  —  they   are  the   reality  of  the 


IN       MEXICO.  45 

romance,  and  dispel  the  brightest  illusions  by  their  sanguinary 
onslaughts. 

Near  a  village  or  hacienda,  called  Punta  Velascos,  in  the  prov 
ince  of  Zacatecas,  we  witnessed  a  spectacle  which,  to  the  credit 
of  the  Mexican  people,  is  by  no  means  a  common  one.  Repulsive 
as  some  of  their  customs  are,  we  were  not  prepared  for  a  scene 
of  barbarism  like  this.  We  actually  saw  a  number  of  females, 
harnessed  like  cattle,  to  the  plough,  dragging  it  through  the  soil, 
while  men  were  lounging  in  the  furrows,  lazily  swinging  at  the 
handles.  Women  were  here  emphatically  degraded  to  the  drudge 
of  life,  and  it  was  enough  to  make  the  heart  bleed  to  look  upon 
the  burdens  they  were  compelled  to  bear.  There  is  no  affecta 
tion  or  sentimentality  in  this  — it  is  a  plain,  but  lamentable  fact, 
which  we  were  happy  to  find  staring  us  in  the  face  at  only  this  one 
place  during  our  progress  through  the  provinces. 

The  ploughs  and  other  instruments  of  husbandry,  used  by  the 
natives,  were  such  as  to  excite  our  curiosity.  They  are  all  con 
structed  of  wood,  with  the  bare  exceptions  of  the  pick  and  crow 
bar,  which  are  pointed  with  iron.  A  Mexican  plough  is  nothing 
more  nor  less  than  the  fork  of  a  small  tree,  the  one  prong  of 
which,  being  sharpened,  serves  for  the  share,  while  the  other  is 
extended  as  a  beam  —  with  a  pole  or  handle  attached  to  the 
crotch,  and  you  have  completed  the  celebrated  implement  which 
furrowed  out  the  fame  of  Cincinnatus  himself.  We  learned  that 
the  "  peacock,"  and  other  patterns  of  the  improved  plough,  had 
at  different  times  been  introduced  there,  but  rejected  as  "Yankee* 
notions." 

Between  Parras  and  St.  Catharina,  we  encountered  several  dif-  >  ,> 
ferent  Indian  tribes,  the  first  of  which  was  the  Yaquis,  a  small  , 
tribe.,  all  of  whom  reside  in  a  city  called  Yaqui,  the  population 
of  which  amounts  to  perhaps  four  or  five  thousand.  The  features 
and  general  appearance  of  these  people  bear  a  closer  resemblance 
to  the  European  or  Anglo-Saxon  race,  than  do  those  of  the  Mex 
icans.  Docile  and  timid  in  their  habits,  they  support  themselves 
by  agriculture,  and  cultivate  extensive  fields  of  Indian  corn  and 
potatoes  in  the  neighborhood  of  their  city.  Their  buildings  are 
all  one  story  high,  constructed  of  unburnt  brick  ;  and  those  of 
each  square  consist  of  one  solid  block,  all  the  rooms  being  in 
direct  communication  with  each  other.  There  are  four  streets 
diverging  from  the  centre,  where  stands,  upon  a  high  eminence, 
a  temple  dedicated  to  the  sun.  These  streets  divide  the  city  into 
four  distinct  squares,  or  districts,  each  of  which  has  its  own  muni 
cipal  regulations.  The  whole  presents  a  rather  commanding  ap 
pearance,  and  is  certainly  creditable  to  the  taste  and  ingenuity  of 
its  aboriginal  projectors.  This  tribe  long  since  absolved  all  alle- 


46 

giance  to  Mexican  authority  —  rejecting  not  only  their  govern 
ment,  but  religion,  and  will  permit  neither  their  priests  nor  civil 
dignitaries  to  come  among  them.  Their  manner  of  worship  con 
sists  of  the  same  forms  and  ceremonies  as  did  that  of  the  ancient 
Aztecs,  with  the  exception  of  the  sacrifices.  They  have  ceased 
to  immolate  themselves  upon  the  altar,  probably  from  the  fact  that 
their  race  is  nearly  extinct.  The  history  of  this  tribe  is  marked 
by  repeated  acts  of  the  most  cruel  oppression.  About  thirty  years 
ago  they  were  all  driven  from  their  homes,  and  fled  to  the  extreme 
north  of  the  province  of  Sinoloa,  where  they  founded  a  more  ex 
tensive  colony,  and  where  a  great  portion  of  the  tribe  yet  remains. 
Those  who  now  compose  the  population  of  Yaqui,  are  such  as 
were  impelled  to  return,  through  the  influence  of  that  yearning, 
instinctive  love  for  their  native  land,  which  is,  to  some  extent,  in 
herent  in  the  breast  of  the  whole  human  family ;  and  which  so 
attaches  them  to  their  early  homes,  that  neither  outrage  nor  op 
pression  can  drive  them  hence.  Not  only  have  they  been  assailed, 
plundered,  and  murdered  by  the  Mexicans,  but  their  honest  labors 
are  taxed  to  support  another  more  barbarous  and  savage  tribe, 
called  the  Tarenechas,  who  annually  rob  them  of  a  great  portion 
of  their  substance. 

The  Tarenechas  are  a  hostile  and  heathen  tribe,  a  number  of 
whom  are  to  be  found  among  the  soldiers  of  the  Mexican  army, 
and  particularly  in  the  guerrilla  parties  ;  which  entitles  them  to 
some  favorable  consideration  from  the  government.  Our  route 
lay  directly  through  their  town  or  fort,  which  is  on  the  bank  of 
the  Rio  Grande  de  Parras,  not  far  from  the  source  of  that  river. 
The  fort  extends  from  the  river  bank  to  the  top  of  a  high  hill, 
the  country  behind  which  is  inaccessible,  and  altogether,  com 
mands  a  grand  and  enchanting  prospect.  The  fortifications  en 
circled  the  summit  of  the  hill,  and  consisted  of  an  enclosure  of 
high  palisadoes,  firmly  and  closely  secured  ;  within  this  there  was 
a  thick,  broad  hedge,  rendered  impenetrable  by  the  matting  of 
ivy,  junipers,  briars,  and  other  sorts  of  copse.  These  circular  bar 
riers  had  but  two  entrances,  and  within  them  stood  the  wigwams, 
forming  another  circle,  with  an  intervening  space  of  a  most  beau 
tiful,  verdant  lawn,  between  them  and  the  fortification.  They 
appeared  like  a  circle  of  arbors,  constructed  of  young  trees, 
twisted  together  and  bent  to  unite  in  the  form  of  a  cone  or  dome, 
at  the  top,  and  so  ingeniously  covered  with  bark,  and  often  in 
more  elegant  style  with  mats  made  of  reeds,  as  to  be  dry  and 
comfortable.  An  orifice  at  the  top  emitted  the  smoke  of  the  fire, 
in  the  centre  of  each,  presenting  a  life-like  and  domestic  specta 
cle.  A  grand  circular  area  within  the  whole,  was  used  as  exigence 
required.  In  the  evenings,  the  young  met  in  it,  and  joined  in  the 
festive  dance.  During  the  day,  it  was  a  gymnasinm,  for  ^athletic 


IN       MEXICO.  ,  47 

feats  of  activity  and  strength,  and  exercises  in  arms  and  combat. 
On  more  important  occasions,  it  was  the  forum  of  counsellors, 
who  met  to  dispense  justice,  and  regulate  the  affairs  of  the  tribe. 
An  elevated  mound  in  the  centre  of  all,  seemed  to  be  a  kind  of 
observatory,  from  which  arose  a  tall,  straight  pole,  surmounted  by 
a  bull's  head. 

But  we  found  the  prospective  far  more  charming  than  the  place 
itself.  The  nearer  we  approached,  the  enchantment  of  its  rural 
elegance  was  dispelled.  The  filth  cast  out  before  the  doors  of 
the  wigwams,  rose  up  in  putrifying  heaps.  These  corrupting  offals 
disgusted  alike  the  eyes  and  olfactories  of  all  but  the  Indians.  In 
the  sunny  space,  the  young  Indians,  like  groups  of  grumphing 
quadrupeds,  had  crawled  together  in  a  state  of  primitive  naked 
ness.  Not  yet  able  to  walk,  they  sprawled  and  sported  together, 
with  that  degree  of  careless  indolence  a  voluptuous  clime  inspires. 
Their  hair,  which  in  riper  years  is  jet  black,  was  blanched  ;  and 
the  red  color  of  their  plump  physiognomies  was  considerably 
heightened  by  exposure  to  the  influence  of  a  tropical  sun.  A  rup 
ture  finally  ensued  among  these  little  varlets,  which  soon  called  the 
squaws  from  their  wigwams,  and  who  came  dashing  like  furies  into 
the  group.  Each  plucked  her  particular  charge  from  the  uproari 
ous  heap,  and  tossing  it  over  her  brawny  shoulders,  screamed  in 
concert  with  the  shriller  pipes,  raised  to  the  highest  key,  of  the 
outraged  and  inquiring  urchin.  The  squaws,  whom  we  learned 
were  seldom  on  the  most  amicable  footing  with  each  other,  kindling 
with  the  supposed  injuries  sustained  by  their  respective  pappooses, 
now  turned  the  strife  actively  towards  each  other  ;  and  the  juve 
niles  clung  to  their  mothers'  backs,  grinning,  and  spitting  wrath, 
as  their  guardians  pulled  each  other's  hair,  and  fought  with  nails 
and  fists,  till  a  number  lay  routed  on  the  ground.  Such  clamor 
in  the  camp,  seemed  to  be  no  usual  thing,  and  called  for  the  inter 
ference  of  several  warriors,  who  soon  calmed  the  tempest.  The 
shafts  of  their  lances  flourished  about  the  dishevelled  heads  of  the 
insurgents  like  forked  lightening  ;  and  battered  and  routed,  the 
whole  female  force  fled,  growling  and  whining  under  their  wounds, 
to  the  interior  of  their  hovels.  This  insurrection  brought  to  the 
doors  of  their  wigwams,  several  feeble,  infirm,  and  superannuated 
old  fellows,  who  looked  like  candidates  for  "  the  hunting  grounds 
above."  Their  heads  were  hoary  and  bald.  Though  emaciated 
and  withered,  they  were  not  bowed  and  bent  like  our  veteran 
mechanics  and  laborers,  but  straight  as  rushes  ;  and  through  their 
furrowed,  wrinkled,  smoke-bleared  features,  much  of  the  Indian 
manly  expression  might  be  discerned. 

While  all  these  things  were  transpiring,  a  crowd,  headed  by  the 
sachems,  had  assembled  around  us,  and  to  our  surprise,  taken  our 
captors  captive  ;  while  they  stared  at  us,  with  as  much  amazement 


48  DONNAVAN'S.    ADVENTURES 

as  if  we  had  just  dropped  from  the  moon,  or  Le  Verrier's  new 
planet.  After  learning  the  character  of  our  captors,  and  the  na 
ture  of  their  mission,  a  brief  deliberation  at  the  council-fires,  resulted 
in  permitting  us  all  to  pass  on,  unmolested  ;  not,  however,  till  after 
we  had  dined  with  the  Indians,  who  feasted  us  on  bean  soup,  and 
the  meat  of  a  venerable  mustang,  that,  had  a  coroner's  inquest  been 
held  over  his  defunct  carcass,  the  verdict  would  have  been, "  came 
to  his  death  from  abstemious  habits."  While  engaged  in  discussing 
the  soup,  for  we  did  not  feel  inclined  to  disturb  the  dry  bones  of  a 
"  dead  horse,"  our  attention  was  drawn  to  a  scene  of  another  de 
scription.  It  was  the  youth  of  the  tribe,  just  returning  from  a 
pillaging  excursion,  with  three  other  ill-fated  prisoners.  The  con 
querors  of  Parthia,  on  their  triumphal  entry,  could  not  have  felt  or 
expressed  higher  exultation.  They  had  burned  and  destroyed  three 
families  of  Zamboos,  whose  scalps  they  had  brought  on  long  poles, 
to  grace  their  pageantry.  The  prisoners  which  they  brought  with 
them,  after  promising  to  become  initiated  into  the  tribe,  had  been 
permitted  to  survive.  This  was  a  youthful  feat,  worthy  the  fame 
of  their  choicest  warriors,  and  in  which  they  exulted  with  the  en 
thusiastic  warmth  of  youth.  Though  their  features  were  of  a 
heavy  symmetry  — all  of  a  dark  bronze  color,  some  shades  lighter 
than  their  jet,  bushy  hair,  yet  the  fire  of  the  soul  animated  the 
dark,  round  countenance  with  the  highest  marks  of  expression. 
Their  large  eyes  seemed  kindled  ;  and  the  compressed  lips,  dis 
tended  nostrils,  and  glistening  ray  that  radiated  and  burst  from 
their  visages,  exhibited  the  native  energy  of  Indian  character,  which 
indolence  and  want  of  cultivation  had  combined  to  suppress.  A 
shout  burst  from  the  rnidst  of  them.  It  was  responded  to  by  the 
young  Indian  females  hastening  to  meet  them.  The  warriors  joined 
in  the  deafening  acclamation,  and  the  fort  rung  with  praise  and 
triumph.  As  we  retreated  from  the  enclosure,  they  commenced  a 
kind  of  fandango,  or  war  dance,  and  it  was  long  before  their  shouts 
of  revelry  died  upon  our  ears. 

Passing  on  through  the  old  military  and  missionary  station  of  St. 
Catharina,  we  crossed  the  Rio  Grande  de  Parras,  near  Sombrerete, 
in  a  novel  looking  ferry-boat,  made  something  after  the  fashion  of 
an  "  Ohio  broadhorn."  Our  passage  was  purposely  delayed  till  the 
ferry-boat  made  her  last  trip,  while  six  of  the  company  were  left  to 
guard  us.  This  was  the  first  stream  of  any  importance  we  had 
encountered  during  our  journey,  and  apprised  that  we  were  to  cross 
it,  we  had  already  concerted  an  attempt  to  escape.  Being  good 
swimmers,  although  our  arms  were  confined  behind  us,  we  resolved 
to  jump  overboard,  which  resolution  was  carried  into  effect  soon 
after  the  boat  was  pushed  into  the  current.  Quite  unexpectedly, 
three  of  the  Mexicans  plunged  in  after  us,  one  of -whom  went  to 
the  bottom  to  rise  no  more.  Througli  the  excitement,  and  by  the 
unlooked  for  rapidity  of  the  current,  I  was  carried  a  half  mile  be- 


IN       MEXICO.  „  49 

low,  to  the  opposite  shore,  where  those  of  the  party  who  had  pre 
viously  crossed,  were  awaiting  my  arrival.  As  they  threw  a  lasso 
over  my  head,  they  laughed  heartily  at  the  futility  of  any  effort  we 
might  make  to  escape.  My  companions,  (Mr.  Cunningham  and 
Dr.  Barry,)  swam  to  the  other  shore,  but  were  pursued  by  the 
guerillas  on  mustangs-,  and  soon  retaken.  They  made  no  effort  to 
rescue  the  body  of  the  drowned  Mexican,  but  passed  on  to  Som- 
brerete  with  the  utmost  indifference  in  regard  to  his  fate.  Consid 
erably  refreshed  by  this  immersion,  we  set  off  on  the  ensuing 
morning  for  Fresnillo,  over  the  best  road  and  through  the  best  cul 
tivated  region  we  had  yet  looked  upon  in  Mexico. 

A  most  striking  difference  exists  between  the  manner  of  their 
population  and  that  of  the  United  States.  From  a  variety  of  causes, 
—  such  as  scarcity  of  water  and  timber  as  a  means  of  defence 
against  the  banditti,  and  the  existence  of  mineral  resources,  which 
constitute  the  chief  wealth  of  the  country,  Mexico  sustains  nearly 
her  entire  population  in  the  towns  and  cities,  all  of  which  will  be 
found  much,  larger  than  an  American  would  be  apt  to  anticipate. 
While  in  the  country,  instead  of  encountering  farms  or  villages  at 
almost  every  turn  in  the  road,  one  will  not  unfrequently  travel  three 
days  without  seeing  even  a  temporary  habitation.  Few  of  the 
towns  in  the  interior  and  mining  districts,  contain  a  population  of 
less  than  ten  thousand,  some  as  high  as  sixty  thousand  ;  and  all 
having  a  number  of  churches,  which  are  universally  constructed  in 
the  Gothic  style  of  architecture. 

Fresnillo,  within  thirty  miles  of  Zacatecas,  contains  a  population 
of  twelve  thousand.  Its  neighboring  scenery  is  rich  and  diversi 
fied  ;  and  its  numerous  gardens,  luxuriant  herbage,  and  fertile 
fields,  serve  to  render  it  one  of  those  paradises,  on  a  small  scale, 
which  so  abound  in  Mexico.  Our  arrival  in  the  place  was  just  a 
time  to  witness  the  closing  scene  of  another  grand  Catholic  proces 
sion,  in  honor  of  some  of  the  saints  —  we  did  not  inquire  who. 
Many  of  the  streets  through  which  the  procession  had  passed,  were 
yet  green  with  pine  leaves,  while  across  them,  overhead,  were 
arches  of  evergreens,  variegated  with  flowers  of  different  hues. 
As  is  usual  on  such  occasions,  all  the  church  ornaments  were  con 
spicuously  displayed  at  different  parts  of  the  city,  and  the  windows 
of  the  wealthiest  portion  of  the  inhabitants  richly  decorated  with 
crimson  curtains  and  silk  flags  of  the  most  costly  materials. 

On  the  following  day  we  had  a  comparatively  easy  march,  over  a 
broad,  well-constructed  road,  to  Zacatecas.  Added  to  this  favora 
ble  circumstance,  the  prospect  of  approaching  the  end  of  our  long 
journey,  a  very  perceptible  change  for  the  better  began  to  manifest 
itself  in  our  feelings.  Our  condition  was  melancholy  enough,  and 
although  we  had  little  reason  to  hope  for  improvement,  we  knew 
that  new  cruelties  could  not  well  be  inflicted  —  for  we  were  almost 
5 


50  DONNAVAN'S     ADVENTURES 

ready  to  welcome  death  itself,  as  a  relief  from  an  existence  offering 
so  little  charm  for  the  future.  Our  clothes  were  so  tattered  and 
torn  into  shreds  and  strings,  as  to  expose  the  bare  skin  to  the  burn 
ing  sun  ;  while  at  every  ventilation,  a  blister  of  the  same  dimensions 
obtruded  itself  into  the  very  face  of  the  sun's  rays — so  the  ele 
ments  themselves  appeared  to  conspire  to  draw  us  into  fresh  afflic 
tions.  As  for  boots  or  shoes,  they  had  long  since  been  dispensed 
with  —  their  term  of  service  having  expired,  not  by  virtue  of  limi 
tation,  but  the  performance  of  extra  service.  With  bare  feet  and 
legs,  lacerated  and  bleeding,  and  our  physical  energies  almost  ex 
hausted  after  a  jaunt  of  nearly  five  hundred  miles,  we  entered  the 
gates  of  Zacatecas  on  the  evening  of  the  7th  of  November,  de 
pressed  even  more  from  anxiety  to  learn  our  final  fate,  than  from 
what  we  had  already  endured. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Zacatecas  —  Peace  Party  —  American  Citizens  —  Their  Hospitality  —  Our  Re 
lease  —  Contemplated  Return  —  A  Mexican  Editor. 

AROUSED  from  our  slumbers  early  on  the  morning  after  our  arri 
val  in  Zacatecas,  we  looked  out  upon  its  broad  streets  with  new 
impulses.  Situated  in  the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Santander  river, 
the  towering  peaks  of  Sierra  Madre,  with  their  rich  and  hidden 
treasures,  seem  to  look  down  upon  the  city  with  a  kind  of  paternal 
significance.  As  if  limning  on  her  largest  scale,  nature  has  here 
made  all  her  figures  bold  and  colossal  —  all  her  features  prominent 
and  strongly  marked. 

Zacatecas,  the  capital  of  the  province  of  the  same  name,  was  by 
far  the  largest  place  we  had  yet  entered,  during  our  progress 
through  the  country.  It  contains  twenty  thousand  inhabitants,  with 
well  paved  streets,  and  tasteful  buildings.  Its  population  is  com 
posed,  not  alone  of  the  Spanish  and  Mexican  races,  but  is  mixed 
with  a  number  of  French,  English,  and  Americans,  and  whose  im 
provements,  instead  of  being  confined  to  chemical  developments 
and  the  pursuits  of  trade,  are  convulsing  the  moral  and  political 
state  of  the  country.  A  more  enlightened  feeling  here  pervaded, 
than  in  any  other  portion  we  had  visited.  The  inert  mass  of  the 
province  had  advanced  at  least  one  step  beyond  their  neighbors,  in 
feeling  and  asserting  their  importance.  Perhaps  it  was  the  influ 
ence  of  example —  this  schooling  of  their  dormant  spirits — yet 
there  seemed  really  to  exist  half  an  inclination  to  enter  the  palace 
of  the  Belshazzars,  and  write  admonitions  on  the  walls.  The  still 


IN     MEXICO.  51 

* 

small  voice  of  popular  rights  which  found  utterance  at  the  com 
mencement  of  the  Texan  revolution,  had  not  died  away,  but  was 
yet  audible,  and  almost  ready  to  burst  in  thundering  intonations. 

It  will  be  recollected  that  in  the  struggle  between  the  Centralists 
and  Federalists,  when  Texas  boldly  led  off,  the  province  of  Zaca- 
tecas  joined  in  what  was  denounced  as  a  rebellion.  Her  people 
were  soon  overwhelmed,  however,  by  Santa  Anna  and  his  army, 
and  subdued.  Since  that  period,  the  most  inveterate  hatred  of 
Santa  Anna  has  existed  among  all  the  population,  except  perhaps, 
the  priests  and  officers  of  the  Central  government.  A  peace  party, 
numbering  among  its  members  many  native  citizens  of  influence 
and  wealth,  Americans  and  other  foreigners,  residing  there,  existed 
at  the  time  of  our  arrival.  This  party  was  awaiting  with  much 
anxiety  the  appearance  of  Gen.  Taylor  and  his  army,  whose  ad 
vance  upon  the  place  was  then  daily  anticipated.  This  gave  to 
the  Americans  a  degree  of  confidence  and  assurance,  which,  under 
other  circumstances,  they  would  not  have  dared  to  avow.  Having 
heard  of  our  arrival  and  almost  perishing  condition,  a  deputation  of 
them,  led  by  Dr.  Hetzel,  formerly  a  resident  of  Missouri,  came  to 
oui  quarters,  and  demanded' an  interview  with  us  in  private.  This 
was  at  first  peremptorily  refused.  Confined  and  guarded,  as  we 
were,  within  a  room  on  the  second  floor  of  the  meson,  we  looked 
down  upon  the  mob,  which  was  fast  accumulating,  with  peculiar 
sensations  —  with  that  mingling  of  hope  and  fear  which  so  strangely 
thrills  the  breast,  at  the  evident  approach  of  a  crisis  in  one's  des 
tiny.  We  could  not  be  mistaken  in  distinguishing  among  the  crowd 
the  faces  of  some  of  our  own  countrymen  —  for  the  Yankee  never 
fails  to  betray  his  identity  — yet  we  knew  nothing  of  their  strength 
or  spirit,  and  could  not  even  wish  them  to  make  a  demonstration 
in  our  behalf,  engaged  as  the  two  countries  were,  in  hostilities. 
They  would  thus  forfeit  their  own  claims  to  protection,  and  render 
their  own  persons  and  property  liable  to  seizure.  Their  purpose 
was  soon  accomplished,  however,  without  any  manifestation  of 
violence.  The  mob  growing  stronger,  momentarily,  our  captors, 
at  first  at  a  loss  what  course  to  pursue,  soon  settled  upon  the  more 
prudent  policy  of  admitting  them  ;  and  upon  witnessing  the  feeling 
displayed  in  our  favor,  with  all  the  semblance  of  magnanimity,  they 
offered  to  relinquish  their  claims  upon  our  persons ! 

After  briefly  relating  to  our  deliverers  the  manner  in  which  we 
had  been  captured,  and  the  history  of  the  wrongs  to  which  we  had 
been  subjected,  indisputable  evidences  of  which  were  deeply  en 
graven  upon  our  persons,  we  were  conducted  to  the  private  and 
comfortable  apartments  of  Dr.  Hetzel.  To  the  kind  hospitality  of 
our  countryman  we  were  not  only  indebted  for  all  the  means  by 
which  to  recruit  our  physical  energies,  and  revive  our  jaded  spirits, 
but  for  a  complete  revolution  in  our  wardrobe. 


52  DONNAVAN'S     ADVENTURES 

All  again  comfortably  clad,  and  decidedly  improved,  both  in 
appearance  and  habits,  we  began  to  feel  a  strong  inclination  to 
return  to  our  homes  and  country.  But  our  proposition  to  depart 
for  Saltillo,  a  distance  of  nearly  two  hundred  miles,  and  where  the 
American  army  under  Gen.  Taylor  was  then  stationed,  received 
no  countenance  among  those  to  whom  we  owed  our  release  and  lib 
erty.  Indeed,  the  new  dangers  to  which  we  should  have  been  ex 
posed,  in  the  absence  of  an  escort,  rendered  the  contemplated 
expedition  a  most  perilous  one,  and  it  required  no  effort  of  elo 
quence  on  the  part  of  our  new,  but  sincere  friends,  to  induce  us  to 
remain  and  partake  of  their  tendered  hospitalities,  until  the 
advance  of  the  American  army  should  open  a  line  of  safe  commu 
nication  to  the  Rio  Grande. 

And  we  were  by  no  means  troubled  with  ennui  at  Zaca- 
tecas.  The  severe  lessons  of  adversity  we  had  learned  in  captivity, 
taught  us,  more  than  ever,  how  to  appreciate  the  blessings  of  liberty. 
Besides  this,  every  attention  calculated  to  make  our  sojourn  agree 
able  was  bountifully  bestowed.  We  were  introduced  to  a  number 
of  the  citizens,  male  and  female,  many  of  whom  we  found  both 
intelligent  and  agreeable.  Among  them  was  Leandro  Cabos,  editor 
of  the  "  Heraldo"  the  only  newspaper  printed  in  the  city,  and 
that  a  most  decided  advocale  for  peace.  The  editor  expressed  his 
sentiments  in  a  manly  and  independent  manner,  and  did  not  hesi 
tate  to  avow,  both  publicly  and  privately,  his  predilection  for 
"  Yankee  institutions."  He  not  only  refused  to  insert  in  his  paper 
any  thing  favorable  to  Santa  Anna  and  his  party,  but  would  pub 
lish  conspicuously,  all  Gen.  Taylor's  orders  which  appeared  in  the 
least  favorable  to  the  Mexican  people.  We  visited  the  mines, 
gardens,  public  buildings,  besides  several  natural  curiosities  — 
observed  the  peculiar  characteristics  of  the  people,  and  altogether, 
saw  and  learned  much  that  was  to  us  new  and  novel. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

Mexican  opinion  of  Yankees  —  Buildings  in  Zacatecas  —  Ciistoms —  Merchants' 
Shops  —  Business  —  Auction  Sales  —  Petty  Thieves  and  their  Punishment  — 
Gambling  —  Lotteries  —  Sunday  Entertainments  —  Churches  —  Cathedral  and 
its  Ornaments  —  Praying  for  a  Husband  —  Bull  Fights  —  Death  of  a  Pica- 
dore  —  Cock  Fighting  —  Extent  of  Silver  Mines  —  Gold  Dust  —  JV'atural 
Cave  —  Geological  Specimens  —  /row,  Copper,  and  Coal  Mines  —  Garden  of 
Don  Alonzo  Gomeres  —  Huaco  Plant,  its  appearance  and  discovery  —  Manu 
factures  in  the  City  —  Politics  —  Jose  Maria  Lafragua  —  Government  — 
Cruelties  of  Santa  Anna  —  Barbarous  Execution  of  a  Young  Female. 

THAT  mankind  generally,  and  the  Mexicans  in  particular,  are 
strange  and  incomprehensible  animals,  is  among  the  "  fixed  facts.'1 


IN    MEXICO. 


53 


From  the  highly  cultivated  Anglo-Saxon,  down  through  the  whole 
grade  of  animate  nature,  to  the  blind  and  bigoted  heathen  of  Hin- 
dostan,  every  one  appears  to  be  dissatisfied  with  his  lot,  and  claims 
a  belter  one  ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  every  one  is  apt  to  consider 
himself  better,  if  not  wiser,  than  any  one  else  — at  least,  he  obsti 
nately  prefers  his  own  manners,  diet,  dress,  and  religion,  to  all 
others,  and  will  laugh  at  or  pity  those  who  differ  with  him. 
Among  all  nations,  as  well  as  individuals,  (except  the  Flat-head 
Indians,)  the  organ  of  self-esteem  is  unchecked  in  its  develop 
ment —  "in  testimony  whereof,"  the  great  mass  of  the  Mexican 
people  regard  the  sovereigns  of  the  United  States,  just  as  the 
sovereigns  of  the  United  States  regard  them.  We  are  free  to  de 
nounce  them  as  half-civilized  cut-throats,  and  they  retort  by  calling 
us  adventurous  barbarians  ;  while  in  either  case,  perhaps  the  epi 
thets  deserve  to  be  modified.  True,  the  people  of  the  two  nations 
differ  as  widely  as  the  poles,  in  their  habits,  pursuits,  and  concep 
tions  of  what  constitutes  refinement,  yet  many  of  these  differences, 
unimportant  in  the  abstract,  are  the  result  of  the  prejudice  of 
education.  Unalterable  as  were  my  prepossessions  —  strong  as 
my  antipathies  —  I  have  seldom  been  more  favorably  impressed 
with  the  appearance  of  any  city,  than  I  was  after  strolling  through 
the  broad  streets  of  Zacatecas.  In  many  respects  it  will  compare 
favorably  with  some  of  the  large  cities  of  the  United  States.  The 
buildings  are  of  all  sizes,  fashions,  and  colors,  from  one  to  three 
stories  high,  the  greater  portion  of  which  are  constructed  in  the 
old  Spanish  style,  with  a  court-yard  in  the  centre,  which  is  often 
used  as  a  stable.  This  makes  a  close  neighborhood,  and  estab 
lishes  a  familiarity  between  the  inmates  of  the  house  and  stable, 
on  many  accounts  disagreeable,  but  neither  the  one  class  nor  the 
other  seem  to  mind  it,  for  they  appear  to  entertain  the  utmost 
respect  for  each  other.  There  is  one  appendage  about  their  bet 
ter  class  of  houses  deserving  praise  above  all  others  —  the  delight 
ful  balconies  that  almost  universally  grace  them.  To  these  is  often 
added,  on  a  level  with  the  first  floor,  a  corridor  or  gallery,  in  which 
more  airy  situation  the  families  spend  the  greater  portion  of  their 
time,  breakfasting,  dining,  or  torturing  some  musical  instrument, 
among  which  the  guitar  comes  in  for  its  full  share  of  punishment. 
The  doors  and  windows  are  on  an  extensive  scale,  the  latter  hav 
ing  neither  sash  nor  glass,  are  filled  with  iron  bars,  through  the 
broad  interstices  of  which  nothing  but  one's  own  sense  of  good 
breeding  prevents  him  from  seeing  what  the  family  are  about 
within.  It  is  the  fashion  to  arrange  some  half  dozen  chairs  within, 
near  the  window,  facing  each  other,  where  the  company  will  sit 
gazing  at,  and  talking  to,  each  other  with  great  vivacity.  In  pass 
ing  through  the  streets,  innumerable  groups  of  this  kind  may  be 
seen,  while  elsewhere  he  may  find  them  seated  at  a  table  playing 
5* 


54  DONNAVAN'S  ADVENTURES 

monte,  and  often  dancing,  as  if  their  salvation,  like  that  of  the 
shakers,  depended  on  the  exercise  of  their  heels. 

The  stores  and  shops  of  the  city,  which  are  for  the  most  part 
under  the  supervision  and  control  of  females,  appeared  to  be  well 
supplied  with  every  variety  of  foreign  goods  that  had  found  their 
way  in  through  the  ports  on  the  Pacific,  previous  to  the  blockade. 
Business  was  said  to  be  dull,  owing  to  the  fact  that  stealing  had 
greatly  improved  since  the  war ;  and  a  number  of  the  merchants 
were  selling  off  at  auction.  At  their  auction  sales  a  large  forum 
is  erected  on  the  public  square  or  plaza,  in  which  a  spear  is  fixed, 
surmounted  by  the  Mexican  colors.  This  is  after  the  original 
Roman  fashion,  and  the  bidding  is  signified  by  holding  up  the  fin 
gers.  The  alcalde's  permission  is  always  necessary  before  the 
sale  is  confirmed.  The  forum  is  generally  crowded  with  silver 
smiths,  or  rather  bankers'  shops,  where  the  articles  sold  are  regis 
tered  and  sealed.  By  them  the  names  of  the  buyers  are  noted, 
and  the  goods  delivered  under  the  authority  of  the  alcalde.  In 
this  manner  a  semblance  of  the  supremacy  of  law  and  order  is 
kept  up,  while  the  small  retail  thieves  seldom  fail  to  come  in 
for  their  share.  Occasionally,  one  of  them  is  detected  and  pun 
ished.  If  the  value  of  the  stolen  property  amounts  to  six  reals, 
(75  cents,)  the  thief  is  condemned  to  serve  in  the  army  — 
if  under  that  amount,  he  is  taken  to  the  market  place,  un 
dressed,  and  publicly  whipped,  with  a  thick,  raw-hide  lash,  on 
his  naked  back  ;  just  as  if  eternal  disgrace  would  arouse  his  sense 
of  honor.  One  can  get  accustomed  to  every  thing  but  such  bru 
tality,  and  a  Mexican  often  gets  accustomed  to  that,  for  I  saw  one 
laugh  after  he  had  been  beaten  till  he  bled. 

The  laws  seem  to  impose  no  restraint  upon  gambling,  every 
species  of  which  is  indulged  in  publicly.  Women,  with  their 
montebanks,  are  to  be  seen  at  every  turn  and  corner  of  the 
streets.  A  legalized  system  of  lotteries,  also,  serves  not  only  to 
lure  the  population  from  the  ordinary  pursuits  of  industry,  but 
sinks  their  whole  lives  in  the  vortex  of  uncertain  chance.  This 
is  owing  chiefly  to  the  cheapness  of  tickets,  which  puts  it  in  the 
power  of  the  very  poorest  to  become  adventurers.  The  most 
fascinating  feature  in  a  Mexican  lottery  is  the  worst.  Tickets 
can  be  purchased  for  one  real,  (12  1-2  cents,)  which  in  half  an 
hour  may  gain  fifteen  hundred  dollars.  This  induces  all  the  poor 
people  to  take  lottery  stock,  and  servants  sometimes  rob  their  mas 
ters  to  procure  the  means.  The  doors  of  the  numerous  offices 
are  always  thronged,  for  the  drawing  does  not  cease.  These  offi 
ces  are  also  kept  by  the  women,  to  whom  the  government  dele 
gates  the  privilege,  and  it  is  not  uncommon  to  'hear  an  old  hag 
cry  out,  "  Who  will  buy  my  dream  ?  I  dreamt  of  three  numbers." 
The  ugly  women  depend  on  their  dreams  to  effect  sales,  while  the 


IN       MEXICO. 


55 


young  arid  beautiful  attract  customers  by  their  bewitching  smiles, 
which  on  Sundays  are  accompanied  by  some  wild  chant  on  the 
guitar. 

Moralizers  in  our  own  country  complain  because  the  mail  is 
conveyed,  and  s'eamboats  are  permitted  to  run  on  Sunday.  They 
ought  to  go  to  Mexico.  There  it  is  the  gayest,  noisiest,  and  most 
business-like  day  in  all  the  week,  and  there  their  doctrines  of  rer 
form  might  be  preached  to  some  purpose.  The  streets  of  Zaca- 
tecas  are  kept  in  one  continual  uproar,  and  the  noise  of  omni 
buses,  diligences,  wagons,  church-goers,  water-carriers,  grocers, 
and  pedlars,  seldom  dies  away  before  midnight.  In  the  morning, 
at  six  o'clock,  the  bells  of  over  sixty  churches  summon  the  people 
to  mass.  The  performances  are  then  slightly  varied  during  the 
day.  In  the  forenoon,  the  regular  service  comes  off,  and  the 
churches  are  surrounded  by  a  host  of  carriages  and  wagons  — 
men  and  women  selling  to  the  visitors  fruits,  cakes,  pulque,  and 
play-things.  A  crowd  of  lazaroni,  half-naked,  occupy  the  en 
trance,  demanding  charity.  In  strange  contrast  with  this  filihy, 
indolent  crowd,  is  the  Mexican  priest,  who,  in  his  long  flowing 
garments,  covered  with  gold  and  silver,  as  a  true  and  humble  dis 
ciple  of  Jesus,  passes  majestically  by  them,  as  if  a  soul  could 
never  tabernacle  in  such  an  humble  looking  tenement. 

Desiring  to  make  the  most  of  our  time,  we  visited  the  cathe 
dral,  in  company  with  Dr.  Hetzel,  who  not  only  knew  all  the 
crooks  and  turns  of  the  city,  but  the  history  of  almost  every  im 
portant  event  connected  with  it.  The  cathedral  is  situated  on 
Calle  de  Patria,  (Patriot  street,)  and  we  soon  came  in  front  otf 
its  vast  sculptured  figures  that  have  frowned  or  smiled  down  upon 
the  street  below  for  a  hundred  years.  On  or  near  the  spot  where 
it  stands,  the  first  church  in  the  province  was  erected  about  three 
hundred  years  ago.  More  than  two  centuries  after  this,  the  edi 
fice  was  entirely  destroyed  by  fire,  and  was  rebuilt  by  the  munifi 
cence  of  Hidalgo,  a  celebrated  priest-general,  who  flourished  his 
brief  hour  in  the  days  of  the  revolution.  It  is  an  enormous  pile, 
the  construction  of  which  occupied  over  twenty  years.  It  would 
be  idle  to  enter  into  an  architectural  criticism  upon  this  church, 
but  I  may  be  allowed  to  say  that  were  it  not  for  its  jumble  of  or 
naments,  by  which  all  the  effect  of  simplicity  —  one  of  the  highest 
elements  of  beauty  —  is  lost,  it  would  be  regarded  with  the  most 
profound  admiration  by  every  beholder.  The  entrance  is  by  three 
marble  porches.  It  has  two  towers  resting  on  the  walls,  one  of 
which  is  remarkable  for  having  been  built  with  money  paid  for 
indulgences  to  eat  meat  in  Lent.  The  spire  at  the  junction  of 
the  nave  and  transepts,  is  built  of  cast  iron  bars,  with  a  geometri 
cal  staircase  winding  its  way  to  the  top,  some  400  feet.  It  looks 
much  like  the  frame  of  a  steeple,  but  very  little  like  a  steeple 


56 


ADVENTURES 


itself.  The  interior  is  about  420  feet  in  length,  and  the  height  of 
the  vaulting  of  the  nave  is  87  feet.  The  effect  of  the  interior  is 
exceedingly  imposing,  and  is  greatly  heightened  by  the  fine  rose, 
and  other  windows  of  beautifully  stained  glass.  It  was  not  so 
much,  however,  on  account  of  the  beauty  of  Gothic  arches  and 
pictured  windows,  through  which  a  flood  of  richly-colored  light 
was  shed  over  the  delicate  tracery  and  sculptured  saints,  or  poured 
along  the  extended  aisles,  that  I  lingered  in  this  cathedral.  It 
was  to  dwell  upon  the  lineaments  of  the  proud  priest's  counte 
nance.  He  was  the  son  of  Hidalgo  himself,  and  was  officiating 
in  the  funeral  ceremonies  of  his  distinguished  father,  whose  re 
mains  had  been  exhumed  from  their  narrow  home  at  Dolores,  to 
be  deposited  in  the  chapel  at  the  cathedral  in  Zacatecas.  He 
possesses  the  religions,  but  not  the  military  qualities  of  his  father. 

The  churches  of  Mexico  are  not  furnished  with  seats  or  pews, 
ns  in  the  United  States  ;  and  on  entering,  one  is  struck,  not  only 
with  the  uneasy  and  uncomfortable  position  of  a  large  congrega 
tion  on  their  knees,  on  a  hard  brick  floor,  but  by  the  gold  and  sil 
ver  pillars  and  balustrades,  which  surround  the  altar,  the  rich 
gold  altar  itself,  and  the  countless  images  of  saints  and  angels, 
with  expanded  wings,  looking  down  from  their  eminent  positions, 
as  if  to  guard  and  bless  the  groups  of  half-clad  and  penitent  men 
and  women,  kneeling  around  the  altar  beneath  them. 

The  most  implicit  confidence  is  placed  in  the  power  of  the 
saints,  and  the  variety  of  distinct  offices  they  have  to  perform, 
makes  their  catalogue  so  extensive,  that  he  who  is  not  particularly 
interested  in  soliciting  their  favors,  will  seldom  become  familiar 
with  their  names.  One  of  these  saints,  it  does  not  matter  about 
his  name,  is  said  to  preside  over  Hyrnenial  affairs,  and  the  young 
ladies  frequently  pray  to  him  for  husbands  till  the  drops  of  perspi 
ration  roll  down  their  bare  necks  like  the  sources  of  a  young 
river.  This  is  really  "getting  into  a  sweat"  for  a  husband,  but 
it  serves  to  show  that  they  are  free  from  the  sin  of  coquetry.  If 
they  become  favorably  impressed  with  the  appearance  of  a  young 
man,  they  are  unremitting  in  their  devotional  exercises,  and, 
through  their  petitions  to  the  saint,  almost  invariably  succeed  in 
gaining  his  affections.  The  saint  enjoys  the  moral  reputation  of 
never  having  directly  interfered  in  granting  a  prayer  which  would 
deprive  a  married  woman  of  her  husband,  but  has  frequently 
broken  off  engagements,  at  the  earnest  request  of  a  pretty  girl  — 
a  decided  mark  of  gallantry,  notwithstanding  his  absolute  power 
over  the  affections  of  the  young. 

In  connection  with  this  subject,  a  most  amusing  circumstance 
occurred  on  the  morning  of  the  fifth  day  after  our  arrival  at  the 
city.  Mr.  Cunningham,  (one  of  my  companions,)  being  a  man 
of  fine  personal  appearance,  was  called  up  at  four  o'clock  by  a 


IN       MEXICO.  .  57 

man,  who  delivered  a  note  from  a  lady  to  whom  he  had  been  in 
troduced  a  day  or  two  previous,  and  with  whom  he  had  a  very 
slight  acquaintance,  slating  that  her  husband  had  died  on  the  pre 
vious  evening,  and  begged  he  would  hasten  to  her  assistance,  as 
she  had  been  most  devoutly  praying  for  him.  He  called  upon 
the  disconsolate  widow,  agreeable  to  her  request,  and  has  since 
often  wished  that  the  saint  had  granted  her  prayer,  and  thrown 
him  into  the  arms  of  this  Delila,  instead  of  a  prison-printing 
office. 

But  I  have  not  completed  an  enumeration  of  the  amusements 
that  occupy  a  Mexican  Sunday.  Among  the  most  interesting  to 
the  citizens  was  a  bull-fight,  which  came  off  in  the  public  plaza, 
at  2  o'clock  in  the  evening.  So  infatuating  to  the  natives  is  this 
spectacle,  that  they  would  leave  their  prayers  or  meals  half-finished, 
to  witness  it ;  though  one  sight  will  generally  satisfy  the  curiosity 
of  an  American.  The  price  of  admission  to  the  seats  within  the 
plaza  was  one  dollar,  where  a  promiscuous  crowd  of  some  ten 
thousand  persons  had  assembled,  composed  of  men,  women,  arid 
children,  of  every  rank  and  station.  Two  bands  of  music,  the  in 
struments  consisting  of  drums,  violins,  violoncellos,  guitars,  flage 
olets,  and  French  horns,  besides  the  horns  of  five  bulls,  were  en 
gaged  for  the  occasion.  A  man  on  horseback  and  three  picadores, 
or  footmen,  were  to  fight  the  bulls,  one  at  a  time.  The  animals 
are  confined  in  a  small  enclosure,  adjoining  the  amphitheatre, 
and  after  torturing  each  one  about  half  an  hour,  with  sharp  iron- 
pointed  poles,  ornamented  with  ribbons,  the  gate  is  hoisted  and 
he  rushes  into  the  plaza,  with  long  strips  of  crimson  silk  depend 
ing  from  his  horns  and  tail,  and  roaring  like  a  full  grown  lion. 
His  sonorous  bellowings  are  soon  drowned,  however,  by  the  deaf 
ening  acclamations  of  the  crowd,  and  the  horseman  dressed  in  a 
cloak  of  rich  and  variegated  colors  rushes  upon  the  brute  with  his 
lance.  It  was  the  bull's  turn  next,  and  being  a  strong,  healthy 
looking  fellow,  foaming  with  rage,  he  thrust  his  horns  into  the 
horse,  and  gored  him  to  death  in  an  instant.  The  rider  and  pica- 
dores  vamosed,  or  vanished,  as  speedily  as  possible  ;  but  soon  re 
turned  to  renew  the  attack  upon  their  adversary,  who  stood 
twisting  his  tail  in  conscious  triumph.  In  .making  his  second 
charge  the  horseman  caught  the  bull  by  the  tail,  and  passing  it 
under  his  leg,  wheeled  his  horse  and  brought  his  adversary  to  his 
knees,  when  he  again  wheeled  and  inflicted  a  severe  incision  in 
the  bull's  neck  with  his  lance.  At  this,  the  bull  became  rather 
"  cowed,"  and  was  hissed  off  the  stage.  The  second  bull  was 
then  let  in,  and  pitched  into  the  horseman  in  the  same  unceremo 
nious  manner,  but  not  with  the  success  of  his  predecessor.  A  lick 
in  the  short  ribs,  by  one  of  the  picadores'  pike  poles,  felled  him  to 
the  ground,  when  they  proceeded  to  pin  a  number  of  lighted 


58 

rockets  to  his  neck,  the  explosion  of  which,  instead  of  frightening 
the  poor  brute,  as  I  presumed  it  would,  caused  him  to  stare  in  a 
most  sarcastic  and  contemptuous  manner  at  his  persecutors.  He 
then  approached  in  a  most  menacing  mood  within  a  few  feet  of 
one  of  the  footmen,  but  the  skill  of  the  latter  in  wielding  his 
stick,  enabled  him  to  stand  his  ground,  and  pierce  the  enraged 
animal  till  the  blood  gushed  profusely  from  his  nostrils,  and  he  fell 
amid  a  shower  of  applause  from  the  spectators.  But  the  triumph 
was  reserved  for  the  last  bull,  who  turned  the  after-piece  into  a 
thrilling  tragedy,  somewhat  in  violation  of  the  general  programme. 
He  was  a  lean,  guant-looking  quadruped,  but  blessed  with  the 
nerve  of  a  Hercules.  Owing,  perhaps,  to  his  cadaverous  appear 
ance,  they  had  not  deemed  it  necessary  to  saw  off  the  points  of 
his  horns,  as  they  had  those  of  the  other  animals,  and  upon  the 
very  first  assault,  he  despatched  one  of  the  picadores  by  thrusting 
his  horns  through  his  body,  and  as  if  proud  of  his  victory,  thus 
carried  him  half  a  dozen  times  around  the  ring,  when  he  tossed 
his  lifeless  body  into  a  crowd  of  children,  breaking  the  arm  of  a 
machucha.  This,  however,  although  not  in  the  bills,  was  a  part 
of  the  sport,  and  was  as  loudly  cheered  as  any  other  portion  of 
the  performance.  Indeed,  there  was  some  show  of  justice  in  giv 
ing  the  bull  a  round  of  applause,  as  the  animal  seemed  to  have 
no  friends  there  ;  and  as  it  was  next  to  be  his  turn,  it  was  perhaps 
gratifying  to  die  full  of  honors. 

The  entertainment  continued  till  the  bull  was  victimized,  when 
the  company  dispersed,  all  shouting  at  the  top  of  their  voices,  "  Ave 
Maria  purisime  losgallos  viennen,"  which  translated,  signifies,  hail 
purest  Mary,  the  chicken-cocks  are  coming  !  And  proceeding  to 
the  cock-pit  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  plaza,  a  great  variety  of 
the  best  specimens  of  that  bird,  so  intimately  associated  with  the 
party  politics  of  our  own  country,  were  found  ready  to  indulge  their 
war-like  propensities  for  the  gratification  of  those  whom  it  is  well 
ascertained  would  much  rather  "  look  on  "  than  do  any  fighting 
themselves.  There  is  no  limit  to  the  betting,  or  to  the  amounts 
staked,  and  I  have  seen,  more  than  once,  fifty  thousand  dollars  lost 
and  won  on  a  single  cock-fight. 

Here  the  world  is  seen  tossing  around  in  all  its  splendor,  and 
the  innumerable  vices  that  splendor  generates,  by  abase  perversion 
of  all  the  elements  of  happiness.  Drunken  Indians  congregate  at 
every  corner  to  curse  police  officers,  and  laugh  at  the  women  in 
their  stiff  Sunday  petticoats  ;  while  others  scarcely  clad  at  all,  with 
half  a  dozen  new  editions  at  their  heels,  and  one  tied  to  their 
brown  backs,  promenade  the  thoroughfares,  the  very  daguerreo 
types  of  misery  and  shame.  At  night  all  this  loose  population  as 
semble  at  different  places  of  amusement  — coffee-houses,  dancing 
saloons,  etc.,  until  the  hour  of  midnight  mass,  when  the  churches 
are  again  thronged. 


IN      MEXICO.  5y 

But  amidst  all  the  confusion  of  tongues,  the  hum  of  a  foreign 
language,  the  reckless  poverty  and  unbridled  vice,  there  are  many 
redeeming  associations  connected  with  our  brief  sojourn  in  Zaca- 
tecas.  Of  all  places  in  the  world,  Mexico  is  the  last,  where  a 
foreigner  should  undertake  to  preach  morals,  or  instruct  in  man 
ners,  if  he  wish  to  avoid  being  considered  a  decided  bore.  It  is 
quite  certain  that  much  of  their  treachery  and  distrust  are  the  re 
sult  of  an  officious  interference  by  foreigners,  who  have  endeavored 
to  instruct  them  in  their  social  and  domestic  relations.  We  were 
not  there  as  missionaries,  and  our  only  prayers  were,  in  the  lan 
guage  of  Florida's  motto,  "  to  be  let  alone."  We  visited  the  silver 
mines,  in  the  adjacent  mountains,  which  are  among  the  richest  in 
Mexico.  Although  not  so  extensively  worked  as  they  were  some 
years  ago,  over  twelve  thousand  men  are  employed  in  the  mines, 
and  more  than  three  thousand  persons  in  the  mint,  which  is  second 
in  importance  to  that  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  and  has  frequently 
coined  $75,000  in  the  short  space  of  twenty-four  hours.  The 
mines  are  entered  by  deep  caverns  cut  in  the  sides  of  the  moun 
tains,  through  solid  quartz,  sometimes  gradually  descending,  and 
at  others  ascending,  a  parallel  distance  of  two  miles,  always  fol 
lowing  the  vein.  The  ore  is  contained  in  the  stone,  which,  when 
quarried,  is  ground  into  powder  ;  the  dust  is  then  thrown  into 
great  reservoirs  of  water,  where  the  precious  metals  are  detached 
through  a  chemical  process.  It  is  asserted  upon  good  authority, 
that  the  richest  gold  mines  in  the  world  exist  in  the  vicinity  of 
Zacatecas,  but  the  instability  and  unsettled  state  of  the  government 
has  offered  no  inducement  to  capitalists  to  engage  in  working  them. 
We  were  shown  the  spot,  at  the  confluence  of  two  small  streams, 
which  wound  through  the  steep  and  crooked  ravines,  were  gold 
dust,  valued  at  one  million  of  dollars,  was  scraped  up  from  the  sur 
face  with  the  hand,  only  a  few  years  ago,  by  a  French  geologist. 

Among  the  greatest  natural  curiosities  of  the  country  is  a  cave 
in  one  of  these  towering  mountains  ;  which,  although  of  no  very 
great  dimensions,  exceeds  in  beauty  and  sublimity  any  thing  of  the 
kind  I  have  ever  visited.  The  principal  entrance  is  from  the  west, 
on  the  bank  of  the  Santander  river,  where  a  passage  has  been  ex 
cavated  by  the  hand  of  nature,  sufficiently  large  to  admit  several 
persons  abreast,  and  which  is  about  sixty  feet  in  length.  At  the 
extremity  there  is  a  sudden  bend,  or  rather  projection  of  the  lateral 
rock,  which,  when  passed,  gives  an  unexpected  and  magnificent 
view  of  the  interior  cavern,  presenting  a  circular  chamber  some 
hundred  feet  in  diameter.  Stalactites,  ever  varying  in  form  and 
color,  lend  their  magic  effect  to  the  scene,  and  reflect  the  light 
beams  from  the  entrance  to  every  nook  of  the  subterranean  apart 
ment.  Near  the  centre  is  a  calcareous  spring,  which  imparts  a 
coolness  to  the  atmosphere,  grateful  in  the  extreme  to  those  who 


60  DONNAVAN'S     ADVENTURES 

have  just  escaped  the  heat  of  a  tropical  sun.  A  tufa  is  deposited 
from  the  waters,  which  has  risen  in  a  circular  mound  more  than 
twelve  feet  from  the  surface  of  the  place.  Over  this,  on  every  side, 
the  water  pours,  producing  a  singular  and  picturesque  fountain,  and 
making  it  a  favorable  resort  at  all  seasons  of  the  year.  Belemnites 
are  to  be  found  in  the  interior,  and  occasionally  masses  of  siliceous 
matter,  and  crystallizations  of  salt.  This  shows  a  rather  remark 
able  geological  family  connection,  for  while  the  stalactites  are  indi 
genous  to  a  moist  climate,  saline  matter  is  usually  confined  to  one 
inclined  to  dryness.  Throughout  these  mountains  marbles  abound, 
and  present  a  great  variety.  The  Kaolin  clays,  the  alumine  earths, 
and  other  minerals  necessary  to  the  arts,  such  as  iron,  copper,  and 
lead,  are  found  in  innumerable  places.  Bituminous  and  anthracite 
coal  are  found  in  inexhaustible  quantities,  existing  in  mountain  mas 
ses.  The  anthracite  beds  are  directly  accessible,  requiring  no  sink 
ing  of  shafts,  and  there  are  no  choke  damps  or  gaseous  explosions 
to  be  encountered  in  reaching  it. 

But  the  most  desirable  resort  about  the  city  is  the  garden  of 
Andalusia,  owned  by  Don  Alonzo  Gomeres.  A  view  of  the  city 
from  this  point  presents  a  peculiar  attraction  ;  and  having  been 
in  the  frequent  habit  of  making  sketches,  my  friend  Cunningham 
here  importuned  me  to  present  him  a  view  of  it,  only  a  small  por 
tion  of  the  buildings  of  which  were  visible.  The  garden  contains 
an  enclosure  of  some  three  thousand  acres,  and  every  thing  is 
upon  the  most  magnificent  and  instructive  plan.  The  plants  are 
set  at  a  convenient  distance  in  rows,  like  a  nursery,  and  grouped 
together  in  classes  and  families,  according  to  the  natural  system 
of  Jussieu.  By  each  specimen,  elevated  on  a  small  rod,  is  placed 
a  silver  label,  on  which  is  inscribed  its  botanical  name  and  the 
country  to  which  it  belongs,  with  a  character  distinguishing 
whether  it  is  annual,  biennial,  or  perennial ;  as  also  a  black,  red, 
yellow,  or  blue  stripe  across  the  top,  denoting  the  plant  to  be  poi 
sonous,  medicinal,  ornamental,  or  edible.  Besides  these  smaller 
labels  for  each  species,  there  were  larger  ones  at  the  head  of  each 
class  or  tribe.  Thus,  commencing  with  the  mushrooms,  mosses, 
and  other  cryptogarnous  plants,  at  the  extremity  of  the  enclosure, 
one  can  inspect  row  after  row,  gradually  ascending  to  the  proud 
est  tree  of  the  forest ;  including  in  all,  some  fifteen  thousand 
specimens  of  the  vegetable  kingdom.  Here  trees  may  be  seen 
growing  within  trees,  and  in  every  wild,  fantastic  shape,  which 
the  ingenuity  of  both  man  and  nature  combined,  could  invent. 
Orange  trees  are  stripped  of  their  branches,  then  perforated 
through  their  whole  length,  and  through  the  roots  to  the  ground 
beneath  ;  then  young  plants  of  the  jessamine,  fig  tree,  rose  and 
myrtle,  are  selected  and  arranged  in  twos  or  threes,  according  to 
fancy,  and  the  size  of  the  aperture  in  the  trunk  of  the  orange 


IN       MEXICO.  61 

tree,  and  passed  through  so  as  to  reach  a  short  distance  above  the 
top  of  the  latter  —  the  roots  are  then  covered  with  earth,  watered 
and  cultivated  as  if  just  planted.  The  tree  and  young  plants 
then  grow  together,  and  will  live  ancf  flourish  for  ten  or  fifteen 
years,  presenting  a  most  beautiful  and  novel  appearance. 

In  this  garden  I  became  acquainted  with  the  celebrated  huaco, 
an  herb  much  distinguished  for  its  medicinal  virtues,  and  which  is  a 
certain  antidote  for  poison.  It  belongs  to  the  Gordonia  genus; 
and  is  a  pretty  shrub,  growing  from  one  to  two  feet  high,  with 
leaves  peiiolate,  oblong,  and  toothed,  shining  above  and  pubescent 
beneath.  The  flower  resembles  that  of  the  orange  in  both  ap 
pearance  and  smell.  The  calyx  has  five  unequal  leaves,  and  the 
carolla  has  five  spreading  white  petals  like  the  rose.  The  first 
discovery  of  the  medicinal  qualities  of  the  huaco  is  attributed  to- 
a  large  bird  that  feeds  upon  snakes  and  reptiles  in  the  savannas 
of  the  South.  Many  years  ago  the  natives  observed  that  this 
bird,  called  the  Guayaquil,  after  a  combat  with  a  snake,  would 
search  for  the  herb  and  eat  it ;  hence  they  supposed  it  to  be  an 
antidote  for  poison,  which  experience  has  proved  to  be  correct. 
An  internal  affection  may  be  speedily  cured  by  chewing  the  herb 
and  swallowing  the  extract,  while  the  extract  is  applied  external 
ly  to  remedy  the  bite  of  the  snake.  The  herb  is  also  said  to  be 
an  effectual  cure  in  cases  of  hydrophobia  ;  and  so  highly  appre 
ciated  are  its  virtues,  that  a  Mexican  is  seldom  found  travelling 
without  it. 

The  manufactures  of  Zacatecas  are  inferior  to  those  even  of 
its  neighboring  cities.  A  few  coarse  cotton  and  woolen  cloths 
are  made,  but  the  chief  interest  of  the  people  is  attracted  to  min 
ing  and  merchandising.  There  are  a  number  of  potteries  in  the 
city,  where  a  variety  of  wares  are  manufactured.  The  potters 
work  in  the  open  air,  and  shape  their  work  with  remarkable  dex 
terity,  on  a  simple  wheel,  horizontally  arranged,  and  revolving 
close  upon  the  ground,  so  as  to  permit  them  to  sit,  according  to 
the  custom  of  all  lazy  people.  These  wares  are  burned  in  large 
open  ovens.  They  make  tiles,  and  water  and  cooking  pots  ;  but 
the  finer  wares,  manufactured  in  other  countries,  are  unknown  to 
them.  Their  most  curious  article  is  a  large  vessel  for  holding 
grain,  much  the  shape  of  a  Chinese  jar,  and  capable  of  containing 
several  bushels. 

Among  the  better  and  more  intelligent  classes  in  the  province 
of  Zacatecas,  may  be  numbered  more  enthusiastic  admirers  of 
our  own  institutions,  than  in  any  other  state  of  Mexico.  The 
federal  or  state  rights  party  have  ever  been  in  the  ascendency 
there,  and  cast  the  vote  of  the  province,  at  the  last  presidential 
election,  for  Jose  Maria  Lafragua,  the  acting  Governor,  who  was 
prompt  in  denouncing  the  measures  of  Santa  Anna,  as  far  back 


62  DONNAVAN'S     ADVENTURES 

as  the  Texan  revolution.  He  is  a  man  of  some  experience  in 
government  and  political  philosophy  ;  and  although  seduced  by 
the  rapid  advancement  ancj  complete  freedom  of  the  United  States, 
he  would  not  countenance  the  dismemberment  of  the  Mexican 
provinces  ;  while  he  frankly  confesses  that  a  want  of  intelligence 
and  energy  among  his  own  countrymen  renders  them  incompetent 
to  sustain  a  compact  similar  in  construction.  There  is  a  great 
difference  between  the  condition  of  the  United  States,  founded 
and  established  under  the  shelter  of  institutions  approaching  re 
publicanism,  and  that  of  the  Mexican  provinces,  which  have  for 
three  hundred  years  depended  on  a  monarchical  and  despotic 
government.  In  the  latter,  democratic  forms  were  new,  and 
many  of  them  opposed  to  the  customs,  habits,  and  inveterate  preju 
dices  of  the  people.  In  the  former,  little  else  was  necessary  but 
to  vary  the  appointment  of  officers.  Even  the  constitutional 
charters  and  laws  of  some  of  the  former  provinces  of  the  United 
States,  answered  for  the  same  when  transformed  into  republican 
States.  In  Mexico  it  was  necessary  to  change  almost  every  thing 
which  existed.  There  is  nothing  wonderful,  therefore,  in  the  an 
archy  which  has  characterized  their  existence  —  the  laws  were 
not  adapted  to  the  people.  Mexicans  who  possess  a  knowledge 
of  the  world  and  of  men,  are  fully  apprised  of  these  things;  and 
it  was  a  sense  of  the  utter  helplessness  of  their  position,  under  a 
government  without  character  or  stability,  that  induced  the  Zaca- 
tecans  to  join  Texas,  in  throwing  off  the  yoke  of  a  central  and 
military  despotism,  to  form  an  independent  government.  Less 
fortunate  than  their  new  neighbors,  they  then  received  a  reproof, 
the  details  of  which,  for  the  credit  of  civilization,  have  never 
come  to  the  ear  of  the  world.  With  the  bloody  butcheries  of 
Santa  Anna  and  his  forces  in  Texas,  most  of  us  have  become 
somewhat  familiar ;  but  of  the  dark  and  disgraceful  cruelties 
which  marked  his  advance  through  Zacatecas,  we  shall  have  no 
complete  record.  It  was  a  most  unhappy  period,  and  if  the  sins 
of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  were  enough  to  sink  those  cities,  I  could 
not  imagine  a  punishment  the  severity  of  which  would  be  com 
paratively  appropriate  in  Santa  Anna's  case.  At  the  head  of 
military  and  civil  authority,  he  marched  an  army  among  his  own 
people,  not  only  to  murder,  but  to  outrage  their  hearths  and  altars. 
A  father  had  no  security  that  his  daughter  or  wife  would  not  be 
corrupted  by  the  officers  of  his  own  country,  by  means  of  the 
terror  which  they  inspired,  and  the  influence  which  their  situa 
tion  imparted.  Any  officer,  who  wished  to  free  himself  from  the 
importunate  presence  of  a  father  or  a  husband,  or  who  desired  to 
get  possession  of  his  property,  instituted  a  process  against  him  as 
an  insurgent,  and  was  sure  that  his  superiors  would  applaud  his 
zeal  in  the  service  of  Santa  Anna.  No  case  of  this  kind  made  a 


IN       MEXICO.  63 

more  profound  and  lasting  impression  upon  the  inhabitants  of  Za- 
catecas,  nor  manifested  more  clearly  the  extent  to  which  cruelty 
was  carried,  than  that  of  Leonor  Rovira.  She  was  a  young  any 
handsome  female,  enthusiastically  attached  to  liberty,  favoring  and 
giving  aid  to  the  oppressed  patriots,  and  to  those  who,  in  the  dark 
est  hour  had  resolved  to  fly  to  the  plains  of  Texas,  from  whence 
they  hoped  that  freedom  might  yet  come  to  their  own  province. 
She  loved  arid  was  beloved  by  a  youth  who  had  been  an  officer 
of  the  province,  and  was  now  compelled  to  serve  as  a  common 
soldier,  in  the  desolating  army  of  Santa  Anna.  Through  the  in 
fluence  she  possessed  over  him,  he  was  induced  to  desert,  and  fly 
to  Texas.  Leonor  made  arrangements  for  the  flight  of  a  number 
of  other  persons,  of  whom  several  were  of  the  army.  She  pro 
cured  exact  statements  of  Santa  Anna's  forces,  with  lists  of  the 
names  of  patriots  and  other  persons  who  could  be  trusted,  all  of 
which  she  transmitted  to  Gen.  Houston.  Her  lover  and  his  com 
panions  were  discovered  and  apprehended  in  their  flight.  The 
letters  and  other  papers  betrayed  Leonor,  who  was  with  them 
thrown  into  prison.  The  cause  was  tried  by  martial  law,  and  dur 
ing  its  progress  this  young  female  is  said  to  have  manifested  much 
presence  of  mind  and  the  most  unshaken  courage.  She  would 
compromise  no  one  by  her  declarations,  and  the  judges  could  not 
elicit  from  her  any  confession  of  the  means  by  which  she  procur 
ed  the  statements  sent  to  Texas.  Finally,  she  and  forty  others 
were  condemned  by  a  council  of  war  to  the  punishment  of  death, 
and  to  be  shot  in  the  back.  She  is  said  to  have  heard  the  sen 
tence  with  the  utmost  composure  and  tranquility,  preparing  herself 
for  death  like  a  Christian  and  a  heroine  —  and  walking  to  the 
place  of  execution  with  a  firm  step,  she  bitterly  reproached  her 
murderers  for  their  barbarous  cruelty.  And  exhorting  her  com 
panions  to  die  with  the  character  and  firmness  of  freemen,  she  an 
nounced,  in  a  clear  and  audible  voice,  that  her  blood  would  soon 
be  avenged  by  the  deliverers  of  her  oppressed  and  degraded 
country.  She  was  shot  in  the  principal  plaza.  Her  constancy 
and  courage  astounded  even  the  iron  hearts  of  a  rapacious  sol 
diery,  and  the  memory  of  her  premature  sacrifice  has  doubtless 
served  to  keep  alive  the  burning  embers  of  revolt  in  Zacatecas,  to 
the  present  day. 


64  DONNAVAN'S     ADVENTURES 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

Impending  Difficulties  —  Santa  Anna  at  San  Luis  Potosi  —  Priests  heading 
Guerilla  Parties  —  Arrival  of  a  Detachment  from  Santa  Anna's  Army  —  Re 
captured  by  the  Mexicans  —  Arrest  of  Citizens  of  Zacatecas  —  March  to  San 
Luis  Potosi  —  Mexican  Soldiers,  and  their  Manner  of  Enlisting  —  City  and 
Prison  of  San  Luis  Potosi  —  Execution  —  Mode  of  inflicting  Capital  Pun 
ishment —  Invitation  to  join  the  Mexican  Army — Our  indignant  Refusal  — 
Departure  for  Acapulco  —  Estate  of  Joral  —  Dolores  —  City  and  Churches 
of  Guanajuato. 

THE  endearments  of  home  and  friends,  the  love  one  bears 
for  his  native  land,  and  the  partiality  he  feels  for  its  institutions, 
can  never  be  fully  realized  lill  placed  beyond  their  reach  and  influ 
ence.  Then  it  is  that  the  natural  yearning  of  the  heart  will  viv 
idly  recall  endearing  associations ;  and  burying  all  the  little  ani 
mosities  and  faults  he  may  find  with  our  government  when  at 
home,  he  will  be  sensible  only  to  its  virtues  and  its  blessings.  It 
is  a  remarkable,  though  a  very  inconsistent  trait,  in  the  character 
of  an  American,  that  however  much  he  may  dissent,  dispute,  de 
plore,  in  the  heat  of  party  conflict  at  home,  and  even  prophesy 
the  impending  ruins  which  are  to  be  the  inevitable  result  of  each 
succeeding  presidential  election,  let  him  hear  the  very  same  senti 
ments  uttered  in  a  foreign  land,  or  the  eternal  permanency  of  his 
country's  institutions  for  a  moment  doubted,  and  his  indignation 
will  have  no  bounds.  In  the  true  Yankee  spirit,  he  will  ever  be 
found  ready  to  "  argue  the  question,"  by  contrasts,  which  are 
always  sure  to  redound  to  his  ow.n  advantage. 

We  had  been  one  week  in  Zacatecas.  Although  in  the  full  en 
joyment  of  personal  freedom,  the  circumstance  of  our  release  had 
lo  some  extent  exasperated  the  authorities,  and  with  no  assurance 
of  safety  for  any  definite  period,  the  approach  of  the  American 
army  was  daily  looked  for  with  a  great  degree  of  solicitude. 

Santa  Anna  was  at  this  time  concentrating  his  forces  at  San 
Luis  Potosi,  only  190  miles  distant,  where  he  had  arrived  on  the 
8th  of  October.  Our  former  captors  had  not  been  seen  after 
holding  a  consultation  with  the  priests  and  authorities,  on  the 
memorable  morning  of  our  release.  Companies  of  soldiers  and 
rancheros  were  to  be  seen  in  the  streets,  however,  at  almost  any 
hour  ;  and  Santa  Anna  having  issued  his  most  eloquent  appeals 
to  the  clergy,  many  of  them  were  induced  to  doff  their  sacerdo 
tal  robes,  for  the  time,  and  join  in  the  last  desperate  struggle  to 
retain  their  supremacy.  The  priests,  ever  jealous  of  their  power 
and  influence,  even  became  so  fanatical  as  to  place  themselves  at 
the  head  of  guerilla  parties,  raised  in  the  neighboring  mountains. 


IN       MEXICO. 


Weak  and  apparently  inactive  as  these  bands  at  first  were,  the^y 
daily  gathered  new  strength,  till  they  began  to  assume  a  more  in 
timidating  character.  Although  formidable  in  point  of  numbers, 
the  peace  party  had  issued  no  pronunciamento,  which  is  the  first 
act  preparatory  to  a  revolution.  They  gave  unreserved  expres 
sion  to  their  opinions,  yet  they  assumed  no  attitude  of  open  hos 
tility  towards  the  authorities  of  the  central  government.  Revolt 
was  not  surmised  either  by  the  friends  or  enemies  of  Santa  Anna, 
and  the  avowed  object  of  the  guerilla  bands  was  to  join  a  division 
of  his  forces  to  be  sent  from  San  Luis  Potosi  in  the  event  of  Gen. 
Taylor's  expected  arrival. 

Those  accustomed  to  a  well-regulated  government,  seldom  feel 
secure  in  Mexico,  either  in  their  persons  or  property  ;  and  at  this 
crisis  many  of  those  who  had  figured  rather  conspicuously  in  the 
peace  party,  would  have  evacuated  the  place,  had  not  retreat  been 
more  hazardous  than  to  remain.  Their  only  hope,  as  well  as  our 
own,  was  in  the  advance  of  "  Old  Rough  and  Ready,"  who  at 
that  time  would  have  been  welcomed  in  a  much  more  hospitable 
manner  than  he  was  at  Monterey. 

On  the  13th  of  November,  the  thunder  of  artillery  announced 
the  approach  of  an  army,  and  it  is  impossible  to  portray  the  con 
fusion  and  out-bursts  of  enthusiastic  rejoicing  it  created  among 
all  classes.  The  peace  party  hailed  it  as  Gen.  Taylor's  anticipa 
ted  advent,  the  authorities  and  clergy  knew  it  to  be  a  detachment 
from  San  Luis  Potosi,  while  others,  enveloped  in  total  ignorance, 
shouted  because  the  crowd  did. 

The  mystery  was  soon  revealed,  however,  when  the  green 
roundabouts  of  the  Mexicans  became  visible,  and  the  army,  over 
three  thousand  strong,  under  the  command  of  Gen.  Requina, 
marched  into  the  city,  and  quartered  on  the  principal  plaza.  It 
was  soon  ascertained  that  this  force  had  been  despatched  by  Santa 
Anna,  to  quell  certain  indications  of  revolt  in  the  city  of  Zacaiecas, 
of  which  the  clergy  had  promptly  given  him  information. 

The  night  which  followed  was  one  of  consternation  and  horror. 
It  was  just  one  month  from  the  date  of  our  captivity  atCamargo, 
and  one  week  after  our  release  from  the  hands  of  cruel  and  un 
feeling  tyrants  at  Zacatecas.  With  Dr.  Hetzel,  John  Allman, 
Lucius  Enfield,  and  George  B.  Gentry,  all  Americans,  we  were 
the  first  to  be  arrested.  After  the  arrests  commenced,  many  es 
caped  through  the  gates,  and  took  refuge  in  the  neighboring  moun 
tains,  while  hundreds  of  citizens  were  dragged  from  their  homes, 
and  placed  under  guard,  to  be  tried  as  rebels,  their  property  con 
fiscated  and  destroyed,  and  their  sanctuaries  entered  and  desecra 
ted  by  the  rnob.  The  citizens,  unarmed,  could  make  no  resist 
ance  against  a  force  which,  including  the  guerilla  bands,  amounted 
to  more  than  seven  thousand  men,  had  they  been  disposed  to  do 


66  DONNAVAN'S     ADVENTURES 

so,  and  they  submitted  to  trial.  Many  were  discharged,  others 
were  condemned  to  serve  in  the  army  ;  while  we,  with  six  other 
Americans,  were  sent  to  San  Luis  Potosi,  and  again  incarcerated 
in  the  common  prison,  with  the  most  abandoned  felons. 

If  we  had  before  held  our  lives  by  a  precarious  tenure,  what 
could  we  now  expect,  after  inciting  almost  a  rebellion,  and  arous 
ing  the  indignation  of  Santa  Anna  himself.  We  had  never  en 
tertained  a  very  flattering  opinion  of  his  humane  disposition,  and 
his  former  persecution  of  the  Zacatecar.s,  with  a  knowledge  of 
his  cruelty  to  the  Texans,  was  poorly  calculated  to  .elevate  him  in 
the  esteem  of  any  one. 

Approaching  San  Luis  Potosi,  from  Zacatecas,  we  passed 
through  the  flourishing  towns  of  Pinos,  Ojocaliente,  and  Aguas- 
caliente,  each  containing  some  12.000  or  15,000  inhabitants. 

Under  a  strong  guard,  we  entered  the  city  of  San  Luis  Potosi, 
on  the  evening  of  November  19th,  preceded  by  a  large  company 
of  new  recruits  for  the  Mexican  army.  These  recruits  consisted 
of  Indians,  who  had  been  forced  from  their  homes  —  and  re 
quired  to  serve  during  the  campaign.  Their  hands  were  bound 
to  their  backs,  and  they  were  paired  off,  and  tied  together.  This 
is  the  manner  in  which  the  ranks  of  their  army  are  filled,  so  that 
it  is  little  wonder  they  express  great  surprise  at  our  system  of  vol 
unteering. 

San  Luis  Potosi  is  situated  in  the  valley  of  the  Panuco,  a  river 
falling  into  the  Gulf  near  Tampico,  and  which  might  be  made  nav 
igable  for  steamboats  as  far  up  as  Tula,  over  one  hundred  miles 
from  the  mouth,  and  seventy  miles  below  the  city.  In  importance 
it  is  the  second  city  in  the  republic —  in  population  the  third  — 
containing  60,000  inhabitants.  It  is  located  in  a  rich  mining  region  ; 
but  from  some  causes  these  sources  of  wealth  have  been  greatly 
neglected  within  the  past  ten  years,  and  the  attention  of  the  citi 
zens  directed  more  to  manufacturing.  The  Panuco  river  afTords 
excellent  facilities  for  manufacturing,  which  are  to  some  extent 
improved.  Woolen  and  cotton  cloths,  hats,  boots  and  slices,  and 
other  articles,  are  here  made  for  expor'ation  to  all  the  surrounding 
provinces.  Some  attention  is  also  paid  to  education,  and  they  have 
a  magnificent  college.  The  buildings  of  this  institution,  together 
with  those  of  the  mint,  Governor's  palace,  and  cathedral,  present  a 
commanding  view.  The  buildings  generally  are  inferior  in  size, 
and  mostly  constructed  of  stucco. 

The  prison  at  San  Luis  Potosi  is  on  a  more  extensive  scale  than 
that  at  Monclova,  and  includes  within  its  walls  a  much  larger  fam 
ily.  On  the  morning  of  the  20th  of  November,  after  remaining  in 
the  prison  over  night,  we  were  all  conducted  to  the  gate,  passing 
by  the  place  of  execution,  in  one  corner  of  the  large  walled  square, 
where  the  officers  were  fulfilling  the  ends  of  justice,  by  executing 


IN       MEXICO. 


67 


a  lot.  of  condemned  criminals.  There  was  so  little  ceremony  at 
tending  their  operations,  and  such  a  carelessness  about  their  man 
ner,  that  we  did  not  dream  they  were  performing  the  work  of  death. 
As  our  guard  delayed  to  open  the  ponderous  gate,  however,  and 
we  saw  them  toss  two  dead  bodies  into  rough  looking  boxes,  placed 
on  equally  rough  wagons  with  wooden  wheels,  we  were  apprised 
of  the  nature  of  their  employment,  and,  indeed,  began  to  think  we 
might  probably  be  the  next  victims.  Their  manner  of  inflicting 
capital  punishment  is  more  refined  than  in  the  United  States.  In 
the  first  place,  they  do  not  make  a  public  spectacle  of  an  execu 
tion.  Within  the  walls  of  the  prison  enclosure,  the  condemned 
culprit  is  seated  in  a  chair,  when  an  iron  collar  is  placed  around 
his  neck,  made  to  expand  or  contract,  as  may  be  necessary.  In 
the  back  part  of  this  is  inserted  a  sharp  pointed  spike,  moved  at 
pleasure  by  the  executioner  by  means  of  a  screw,  and  on  turning 
which  the  spinal  marrow  is  penetrated  by  the  point,  causing  instant 
death.  This  ingenious  machine,  for  the  perpetration  of  legalized 
murder,  is  called  the  garotte. 

As  we  beheld  this  scene  of  dissolution  between  body  and  soul, 
we  felt  that  the  last  ray  was  quivering  upon  the  dial-plate  of  our 
own  destiny.  To  be  forcibly  driven  into  the  presence  of  Santa 
Anna  —  into  the  very  grasp  of  his  insatiate  soldiery,  was  enough 
to  make  us  think  seriously  of  preparing  our  last  will  and  testament. 
But  we  had  not  yet  suffered  enough  to  glut  their  cruel  propensi 
ties,  and  marching  us  to  the  barracks,  they  gave  us  to  understand 
that  we  were  to  serve  in  the  republican  army  of  Mexico  !  We  all 
joined  in  thanking  them  for  this  rr  ark  of  proffered  promotion,  but 
declined,  stating  that  if  they  would  spare  our  lives  till  the  Ameri 
can  forces  commenced  knocking  at  their  gates,  and  they  had  any 
curiosity  in  seeing  us  fight,  we  might  give  them  a  specimen,  by 
exercising  our  organs  of  combativeness  under  other  colors.  It  was 
an  insult  that  our  sense  of  patriotism  could  not  brook,  and  we  felt 
it  more  keenly  than  all  the  outrages  we  had  endured. 

Santa  Anna  did  not  make  his  appearance  in  person,  but  finding 
our  resolution  to  place  at  defiance  such  a  demand,  irrevocably 
fixed,  he  sent  his  kitchen  general  (Requina)  to  inform  us  that  we 
were  to  be  immediately  marched  off  to  Acapulco.  What  object 
he  could  have  had  in  view  in  sending  us  to  that  miserable  place, 
has  never  revealed  itself  to  me.  Acapulco  is  a  port  of  some  im 
portance  on  the  coast  of  the  Pacific,  nearly  eight  hundred  miles 
from  San  Luis  Potosi,  and  owing  to  the  malignity  of  the  climate, 
and  the  still  more  malignant  character  of  the  inhabitants,  few  who 
go  there  ever  return  alive. 

Through  our  new  associates,  who  had  been  brought  from  Zaca- 
tecas,  and  who  were  to  accompany  us  to  Acapulco,  we  learned 
that  Santa  Anna  had  been  informed  by  the  clergy  of  the  former 


68  DONNAVAN'S     ADVENTURES 

place,  that  we  had  been  captured  as  spies.  In  no  other  way  could 
we  account  for  the  apparent  lenity  by  which  our  lives  were  pro 
longed,  than  to  attribute  it  to  their  desire  that  the  catalogue  of  our 
sufferings  should  be  complete  in  this  world,  before  being  despatched 
on  a  mission  to  eternity. 

Accordingly,  under  new  masters,  commissioned  by  Santa  Anna 
to  guard  us,  we  commenced  our  journey  to  the  Pacific,  on  the  20th 
of  November.  Including  the  new  accession  from  Zacatecas,  our 
own  party  was  now  swelled  to  nine  in  number,  while  our  guard, 
increasing  in  a  greater  ratio,  consisted  of  forty-six,  well-armed, 
able-bodied,  and  mounted  men.  We  could  not  but  think  of  the 
disappointment  of  poor  Poco  Llama  and  his  rancheros,  and  although 
treated  wilh  more  humanity,  we  almost  regretted  the  transfer ;  for 
we  had  abandoned  all  former  hope  of  returning  to  our  own  country, 
and  instead  of  expecting  to  be  sold  into  slavery,  with  a  prospect  of 
being  released  at  the  termination  of  hostilities,  we  felt,  as  we  plodded 
on  towards  the  setting  sun,  that 


"  Our  hearts,  like  muffled  drums,  were  beating 
Funeral  marches  to  the  grave." 

Thirty  miles  from  San  Luis  Potosi  we  entered  the  dominions  of 
the  almost  unlimited  estate  originally  owned  and  occupied  by  the 
house  of  Jorol,  of  the  Spanish  nobility.  This  is  represented  to  be 
the  largest  and  most  magnificent  estate  in  Mexico.  At  the  com 
mencement  of  the  revolution,  the  amount  of  stock  was  reputed  to 
number  350,000  head,  and  the  tenantry  engaged  in  cultivating  the 
grounds  to  over  30,000  men.  In  extent  of  territory  these  posses 
sions  will  equal  about  four  of  our  ordinary  counties,  and  the  single 
farm  is  larger  than  the  State  of  Delaware.  The  unsettled  policy 
of  the  country  has  driven  the  proprietor  from  his  possessions,  and 
the  estate  now  bears  evident  marks  of  decay  and  dilapidation. 
Another  immense  hacienda  is  Dolores,  the  original  seat  of  Hidalgo, 
the  leader  of  the  first  revolutionary  movement  in  Mexico.  Near 
the  centre  of  this  estate,  comprising  some  20,000  square  miles,  is 
the  town  of  Dolores,  with  a  population  of  7,000. 

Four  days  travel  brought  us  to  Guanajuato,  on  the  Sierre  Santa, 
the  capital  of  the  province  of  the  same  name,  situated  in  the  richest 
mining  region  of  all  Mexico,  and  containing  40,000  inhabitants. 
I  have  never  seen  a  more  quaint  and  singular  city  than  Guanajuato. 
The  street  by  which  we  entered  the  place  is  broad  and  straight 
enough  for  a  Philadelphian,  but  the  moment  we  left  it  and  turned 
off  into  the  narrow,  hilly  avenues,  we  were  in  a  perfect  labyrinth. 
They  are  so  narrow  and  crooked  that  carriages  can  scarcely  pass 
each  other  in  the  most  of  them.  Our  guard  here  took  the  precau- 


IN       MEXICO.  69 

tion  to  dismount,  in  order  to  convey  us  through  the  city  in  a  hollow 
square  sort  of  procession.  In  these  narrow  streets  there  are  no 
side-walks,  and  but  for  the  commanding  appearance  of  our  crowd, 
upon  which  all  eyes  were  turned,  we  should  have  been  crushed 
against  the  buildings  by  some  lumbering  diligence.  Threading  the 
tortuous  and  crowded  lanes,  we  frequently  came  out  upon  some 
magnificent  church,  which  if  it  could  be  made  to  stand  apart  from 
the  world  of  small  buildings,  tumbled  in  together  as  if  about  knee- 
deep  around  it,  would  be  regarded  as  almost  a  wonder  of  archi 
tecture  ;  and  which  even  now,  with  the  imperfect  view  which  can  be 
obtained,  between  unmannerly  dwellings  and  ware-houses,  charms 
the  beholderl  ike  the  glimpses  of  a  fairy  scene.  Hurried  through  the 
city  as  we  were,  there  was  little  opportunity  to  acquire  much 
knowledge  of  its  character  or  extent ;  but  1  could  not  help  notic 
ing  the  antique  buildings,  the  unusually  active  and  energetic  pop 
ulation,  and  the  strange  dresses  that  were  perhaps  in  the  height  of 
style  about  a  century  ago.  Passing  through  the  city  to  the  sub 
urbs,  we  stopped  for  the  night  in  a  convent  building,  not  exactly 
among  the  nuns,  but  with  the  padre  of  the  place,  whom  we  found 
remarkably  hospitable  and  inquisitive.  The  heavy  rains  which 
commenced  falling,  detained  us  here  till  the  middle  of  the  follow 
ing  day,  when  we  left  for  Valladolid. 


CHAPTER    IX, 

Arrival  at  Valladolid  —  Curiosity  of  ike  Citizens  —  A  French  Publisher  —  His 
History  —  Another  Sentence  of  Death  —  Negotiation  for  our  release  —  "  Bar 
gain  and  Intrigue  "  —  Sold  into  Slavery  —  Mexican  Charac  'er  —  Our  Price  — 
Dr.  Barry  —  A  Mexican  Printing  Office  —  Spanish  Piinters  —  El  Republi- 
cano  —  Support  and  Character  of  Mexican  Newspapers. 

IN  ten  days  we  performed  a  journey  of  310  miles,  and  arrived 
in  the  city  of  Valladolid  on  the  evening  of  December  1st.  1846. 
The  day  had  been  the  occasion  of  some  religious  festival,  arid  the 
streets  and  public  houses  were  so  thronged  that  our  guard  deter 
mined  to  confine  us  during  the  night  in  the  city  prison,  that  they 
might,  unembarrassed,  participate  in  the  concluding  ceremonies, 
which  we  understood  were  to  consist  of  a  fandango  and  mas 
querade. 

After  a  delegation  had  been  despatched  for  the  keeper  of  the 
prison,  and  to  make  the  necessary  arrangements  for  our  security, 
many  of  the  citizens  crowded  in  the  meson  to  get  a  sight  at  us. 
Had  our  guard  been  gifted  with  a  little  of  that  Yankee  tact  which 


70 

turns  everything  to  count  in  the  way  of  a  "  shilling,"  they  might 
have  made  a  handsome  "  speculation  "  by  exhibiting  us.  The  mar- 
vellousness  of  the  natives  was  excited  to  a  greater  extent  than  is 
usually  manifested  by  the  boys  of  our  own  villages  in  the  United 
States,  when  the  "  show-men  come  to  town."  Indeed,  we  were 
great  lions,  in  our  way,  for  few  of  the  citizens  of  Valladolid  had 
ever  seen  a  Yankee,  and  they  opened  their  eyes,  as  if  determined 
this  opportunity  should  not  be  unimproved.  From  among  the 
crowd  an  elderly  looking  man  emerged,  and  advancing,  accosted 
us  in  unbroken  English  —  "  Are  you  American  citizens  ?  I  had 
thought  that  that  announcement  was  a  free  passport  the  world 
over."  There  was  more  meaning  expressed  in  his  countenance 
than  in  his  words,  and  although  his  bearing  was  rather  scornful, 
his  English  surprised  us  ;  but  as  it  was  the  first  sentence  we  had 
heard  uttered  in  our  language  beyond  our  own  immediate  circle, 
since  we  left  Zacatecas,  we  did  not  attempt  to  evade  his  presence 
or  his  interrogatories.  We  replied,  that  had  our  memory  ever 
been  at  all  treacherous  in  regard  to  the  place  of  our  nativity,  the 
contrast  we  had  experienced  in  treatment  since  passing  beyond 
its  borders,  was  calculated  forcibly  to  remind  us  that  we  had  once 
been  citizens  of  the  United  States. 

The  old  man  seemed  inclined  to  continue  the  conversation,  and 
soon  revealed  the  most  important  facts  connected  with  his  individ 
ual  and  somewhat  eventful  history.  He  stated  that  his  fathers 
name,  which  was  all  he  had  inherited,  was  Mons.  Buffam  —  that 
he  himself  was  a  native  of  France,  but  had  in  early  life  emigrated 
to  England.  In  1835,  he  left  England  for  the  United  States,  and 
on  landing  at  New  York  was  so  dissatisfied  with  its  appearance, 
and  the  intense  coldness  of  the  climate,  that  he  immediately  sailed 
with  a  cargo  of  goods  for  San  Bias,  on  the  Pacific  coast.  Cruis 
ing  around  to  the  small  English  colony  of  Balize,  he  changed  his 
destination  to  Acapulco,  and  anchoring  in  that  harbor,  at  the  time 
of  the  difficulties  between  Mexico  and  Texas,  he  found  it  an  easy 
matter  to  purchase  from  the  Mexican  authorities  a  permit  to  im 
port  goods  free  of  duty.  On  returning  with  his  second  cargo,  he 
learned  at  the  custom  house  that  his  permit  was  worthless,  as  the 
former  authorities  had  been  deposed,  after  the  battle  of  San 
Jacinto,  and  the  new  government  was  riot  responsible  for  the  pri 
vate  contracts  of  the  old  custom  house  officers.  He  sold  out  his 
cargo  at  a  sacrifice,  and  abandoning  the  mercantile  business  in 
1839,  he  had  settled  down  in  the  city  of  Valladolid,  where  he 
was  engaged  as  one  of  the  publishers  of  "  El  Republicano  "  news 
paper. 

In  listening  to  him  we  manifested  a  degree  of  interest  always 
gratifying  to  the  narrator  of  events  in  which  he  is  the  masterspirit ; 
and  when,  in  turn,  we  came  to  tell  him  that  we  had  for  several 


IN       MEXICO.  71 

years  been  connected  with  the  newspaper  press  of  the  United 
States,  and  that  two  of  us  were  practical  printers  by  profession,  he 
evinced  symptoms  of  confusion  and  surprise  for  which  we  were 
at  a  loss  to  account.  Our  interview  was  abruptly  closed,  however, 
by  the  command  of  the  guard,  who  gave  us  to  understand  that  they 
awaited  our  company  to  prison. 

During  the  night  arid  on  the  day  following,  our  guard  indulged 
freely  in  pulque,  and  had  become  so  "  gloriously  drunk  "  as  to 
apparently  lose  all  their  distinguished  consideration  of  us.  To 
wards  evening,  however,  our  new  acquaintance  of  "  El  Republi- 
cano,"  accompanied  by  his  associate,  Senor  Gomez  Peyrelades,  a 
native  Spaniard,  and  editor  of  the  paper,  visited  and  informed  us, 
that  the  commander  of  our  guard  (Gen.  Requina.)  too  beastly 
drunk  to  navigate  himself,  had  ordered  his  men  to  conduct  us 
from  the  prison  one  at  a  time,  and  deliberately  shoot  us  down  in 
the  public  plaza.  They  then  consulted  us  in  regard  to  our  willing 
ness  to  serve  them  in  the  capacity  of  compositors,  should  they  in 
tercede  and  procure  our  release  as  prisoners.  We  did  not  long 
hesitate  in  choosing  between  being  shot,  going  to  Acapulco,  or 
taking  "  situations  "  in  a  printing  office.  In  clinging  to  the  latter 
"  horn  of  the  dilemma,"  we  might  possibly  avail  ourselves  of  an 
opportunity  to  escape,  at  least  after  the  close  of  the  war. 
•  After  an  absence  of  about  an  hour,  during  which  time  they  held 
an  interview  with  Gen.  Requina,  they  returned  and  stated  they 
had  "come  to  terms  "  —  that  they  had  paid  $1,900  in  considera 
tion  of  securing  our  services,  for  an  indefinite  period,  and  that  if 
disposed  to  ratify  the  negotiation,  we  might  signify  our  intentions 
by  being  conducted  to  the  printing  office. 

Here  was  a  scene  for  philosophical  reflection.  We  had  often 
accused  our  brother  editors  of  being  "  bought  and  sold."  In  the 
heat  of  party  warfare  we  had  been  somewhat  lavish  in  the  use  of 
such  reproachful  and  disgusting  epithets  as  "  British  Whigs  "  and 
"  Bank-bought  federalists."  We  had  stigmatized  our  own  coun 
trymen  as  being  sold  into  the  servile  slavery  of  party  ;  and  had 
reprobated  the  idea  of  "  white  slavery  "  in  the  most  earnest  man 
ner.  But  this  was  only  the  enthusiastic  romancing  incident  to 
youth,  led  away  by  the  tyranny  of  party  discipline,  in  the  excite 
ment  of  a  heated  political  contest.  We  had  now  come  to  experi 
ence  some  of  the  realities  of  a  purchased  editor,  and  humiliating 
as  was  the  "  bargain  and  intrigue"  to  our  native  sense  of  justice, 
-we  found  ourselves  transferred  into  unlimited  bondage. 

It  was  useless  that  we  should  demand  the  authority  by  which 
such  an  outrage  upon  our  own  feelings,  as  well  as  all  rules  of  civ 
ilization,  was  perpetrated.  Power  is  the  only  authority  recognized 
in  Mexico,  and  if,  as  I  have  before  remarked,  men  will  sell  their 
own  souls,  they  will  hardly  hesitate  to  sell  the  bodies  of  their 
enemies. 


72 

The  character  of  the  great  mass  of  that  people  may  be  assimi 
lated  to  that  of  a  spaniel  dog.  Give  them  uncontrolled  sway  and 
they  are  cruel  and  inhuman  —  but  "  the  more  you  whip  them  the 
better  they  will  like  you  "  — and  when  subdued,  they  are  far  more 
servile  and  humble  than  the  negro  slaves  of  our  Southern  states. 

Under  all  the  circumstances,  we  had  some  reason  to  congratu 
late  ourselves  upon  this  change  of  masters.  We  had  escaped  from 
a  second  sentence  to  be  shot  down  as  common  food  for  the  more 
common  buzzards,  while  we  had  substantial  evidence  of  the  esteem 
in  which  we  were  held  by  our  new  owners,  from  the  round  sum 
they  had  paid  for  us.  It  is  quite  natural,  that,  when  a  price  is  set 
upon  a  man's  head,  he  is  ambitious  to  bring  as  much  as  possible : 
and  we  consoled  ourselves  by  a  knowledge  that  we  had  sold  for  a 
greater  amount  than  we  could  possibly  have  brought  in  our  own 
country,  even  with  a  few  dips  in  Etheopian  die. 

[And  here,  although  somewhat  out  of  place,  the  author  must  be 
permitted  to  correct  an  erroneous  statement  which  has  appeared  in 
the  New  York  "  Spirit  of  the  Times,"  and  the  New  Orleans 
"  Delta,"  since  his  return  to  the  United  States.  He  has  been 
"undervalued"  by  an  article  which  appeared  in  those  papers, 
and  copied  into  various  other  respectable  prints,  asserting  that  he 
had  been  sold  for  the  contemptible  sum  of  $350  !  The  mistake 
is  no  doubt  an  innocent  one,  yet  it  is  calculated  to  detract  from  the 
value  of  a  printer  —  and  for  the  credit  of  the  craft,  it  should  be 
understood  that  he  not  only  sold  for  $950,  but  that  his  associate 
brought  the  same  price.] 

Our  mutual  friend,  Dr.  Barry,  being  now  left  in  confinement 
with  the  Zacatecan  prisoners,  suggested  that  he  should  consider  it 
an  especial  favor  if  a  similar  disposition  could  be  made  of  his  per 
son  to  an  apothecary,  if  "  hereabouts  he  dwelt."  In  fact  he  pos 
sessed  every  requisite  qualification  for  that  place,  according  to  the 
idea  of  the  poet,  for 

"  Sharp  misery  had  worn  him  to  the  bones  ; " 

and  there  is  but  little  doubt  but  that  Gen.  Requina  would  have 
gladly  dispensed  with  all  the  prisoners  on  similar  conditions,  but 
it  seemed  we  had  supplied  the  demand.  In  a  few  days,  after  be 
coming  sober,  the  entire  company  departed  for  Acapulco  with  the 
other  prisoners,  leaving  Mr.  Cunningham  and  myself  to  enter  upon 
our  life-apprenticeship  in  a  Mexican  printing  office. 

The  office,  which  occupied  the  third  story  of  a  large  stone  build 
ing,  and  is  entered  through  a  pylon,  a  court,  and  then  a  massive 
gate,  was  a  perfect  museum  of  curiosties  to  an  American  printer. 
The  room  was  large  and  commodious,  but  filthy  almost  beyond 
description.  In  printing,  as  well  as  other  arts,  mechanics,  and 


IN    MEXICO.  .  73 

agriculture,  the  Mexican  people  are  at  least  two  centuries  behind 
the  age.  Their  type  and  presses,  like  their  muskets,  are  generally 
the  worn  out  and  cast-off  materials  from  Spain.  The  old  Ram- 
age  presses  were  so  venerable  they  could  scarcely  stand  alone,and 
at  each  successive  revolution  of  the  rounce  their  shrieks  would  grate 
upon  the  ear,  as  if  exercise  was  as  painful  to  them  as  to  the  Span 
ish  printers  who  were  torturing  their  poor  old  joints.  There  were 
two  of  these  machines,  each  having  a  stone  bed,  and  a  ponderous 
weight,  like  a  Dutch  cheese  press.  The  face  of  the  type  was 
barely  visible,  and  it  was  with  some  difficulty  one  letter  could  be 
distinguished  from  another,  while  the  body  was  worn  as  round  as 
a  rusty  nail.  Such  an  improvement  as  a  roller  had  never  been 
dreamed  of,  and  the  balls,  long  since  banished  from  our  western 
borders,  there  retain  supremacy.  An  imposing  stone  has  never 
invaded  the  original  prerogative  of  the  press  bed,  and  an  iron 
chase  would  be  regarded  as  a  retrograde  movement  in  "the 
art  preservative  of  all  arts."  The  chases,  sticks,  and  galleys,  were 
all  composed  of  wood,  though  being  made  of  mahogany,  they 
serve  nearly  as  well  as  metal.  The  cases,  instead  of  being  mounted 
on  stands,  are  spread  out  on  the  floor,  as  the  Spaniard,  being  too 
lazy  to  take  a  perpendicular  position,  prefers  to  sit  down,  to  set 
up  type  ;  and  on  a  filthy  mat,  thrown  out  upon  the  floor,  he 
sprawls  himself  at  his  occupation,  where  he  will  sometimes  succeed 
in  setting  three  thousand  ems  per  day.  In  making  up  a  news 
paper  form,  the  annuncios,  or  advertisements,  are  inserted  promis 
cuously  with  the  reading  matter,  without  any  such  encumbrances 
as  brass  rule. 

The  Mexicans  are  by  no  means  a  literary  people,  and  they  have 
few  newspapers.  "  El  Republicano  "  is  a  super-royal  sheet,  is 
sued  daily,  resembling  in  mechanical  appearance,  Ann  Royal's 
"  Huntress,"  more  than  any  other  sheet  to  which  I  can  compare 
it.  It  is  sustained  by  contributions  from  individuals  and  the  gov 
ernment,  and  contains  very  little  intelligence  besides  official  an 
nouncements.  Occasionally  a  horrible  murder  will  adorn  its  col 
umns  ;  and  it  is  a  prevailing  epidemic  among  the  young  people  of 
the  "  upper  ten,"  to  give  publicity  to  their  amorous  verses,  gener 
ally  stupid  and  j>rosy,  but  sometimes  possessing  the  fire  of  poetry. 


74  DONNAVAN'S  ADVENTURES 


CHAPTER    X. 

City  of  Valladolid  —  Climate  and  Productions  —  Volcano  of  Jorullo  —  New 
Theory  of  the  Gulf  Stream  —  Christmas  —  Buildings  in  the  City  —  Customs 
of  the  inhabitants  —  Matrimonial  Intrigues  —  Music —  Governor  of  Mechoacan, 
and  his  Plan  of  Warfare  —  Ignorance  of  a  Mexican  Editor  in  regard  to  the 
United  States  —  Corwin's  Speech  —  Neivs  of  the  Battle  of  Buena  Vista  — 
Great  Rejoicing  —  Sentiments  of  the  Masses. 

L'H.v,  -jo?  to  I  3:10  </ifjr*>rBif>  9rrir»?  r!.5<>  *w  l'<hn6  '.^Mfviv  v^fid 
VALLADOLID,  the  capital  of  the  province  of  Mechoacan,  is  situ 
ated  on  the  western  declivity  of  the  Cordillera  of  Auhuac.  It 
contains  a  population  of  27,000,  and  is  noted  as  being  the  scene 
of  the  first  revolutionary  movement  in  1810,  and  the  birth  place 
of  Iturbide,  the  first  and  only  emperor,  after  the  conquest  by  Cor- 
tez.  Il  is  about  eleven  hundred  miles  south  from  Camargo,  one 
hundred  and  seventy  west  from  the  city  of  Mexico,  and  nearly 
two  hundred  east  from  Zacatula,  the  nearest  port  on  the  Pacific 
coast,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Balsas  river.  The  valley  of  Auhuac  is 
the  Italy  of  America,  where  spring  reigns  unbroken.  The  mean 
temperature  of  the  climate  is  70  degrees,  Fahrenheit,  never  vary 
ing  more  than  ten  degrees.  The  productions  of  this  immense 
valley  consist  of  sugar,  cotton,  rice,  cocoa,  indigo,  cochineal,  oran 
ges,  lemons,  pine-apples,  grapes,  palms,  plantains,  bananas,  yams, 
figs,  tamarinds,  pomegranates,  mangostans,  almonds,  and  every  va 
riety  of  tropical  fruits. 

Among  the  majestic,  in  the  natural  way,  Mechoacan  his  within 
her  territorial  limits,  the  stupendous  volcano  of  Jorullo,  of  nearly 
one  hundred  years,  and  16, 500  feet  standing.  In  the  fall  of  1759, 
from  a  subterranean  eruption,  which  covered  with  a  sea  of  lava 
the  broad  plains  of  Malpais,  rose  the  towering  peak  of  Jorullo, 
which,  although  constantly  burning,  seldom  emits  lava.  At  an  el 
evation  of  14, 500  feet  above  the  base,  it  is  covered  with  perpetual 
snow.  The  only  eruption,  within  the  memory  of  the  inhabitants, 
occurred  about  twenty-eight  years  ago,  when  it  is  said  that  the 
streets  of  Valladolid  were  covered  with  cinders  and  ashes  to  the 
depth  of  twenty  inches. 

Recently  a  new  and  very  plausible  theory  has  been  suggested, 
accounting  not  only  for  the  high  temperature  of  the  waters  of  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  but  for  the  existence  of  the  Gulf  stream  itself. 
It  is  surmised  that  a  subterranean  current,  connecting  the  waters 
of  the  Pacific  with  those  of  the  Gulf,  passes  through  a  cavity  or 
excavation,  caused  by  the  eruptions  of  the  five  volcanoes  —  Colima, 
Jorullo,  Popocatapetl,  Orizaba,  and  Tuxtla,  which  are  situated  in 
nearly  a  direct  line  between  the  Pacific  and  the  Gulf.  Indeed, 
there  is  much  evidence  in  support  of  this  theory,  the  waters  of  the 


IN       MEXICO.  75 

Pacific  being  at  a  considerable  elevation  above  those  of  the  Gulf, 
would  afford  sufficient  fall,  and  the  great  heat  so  increases  their 
impetus,  as  to  compel  the  current  to  the  shores  of  Asia.  Besides, 
I  learned  that  in  an  attempt  to  sink  an  artesian  well  a  few  years 
since  at  Patzcuro.  near  Jorullo,  and  on  a  parallel  line  with  the 
volcanoes,  the  blue  waters,  resembling  those  of  the  Pacific, 
gushed  up,  already  heated  to  a  sufficient  temperature  to  boil  an 
egg- 

When  Christmas  arrived,  the  whole  city  was  in  commotion. 
All  shops  and  business  operations  were  closed  for  one  week,  to 
give  full  swing  to  religious  ceremonies.  Left  to  take  care  of  our 
own  souls,  we  could  only  amuse  ourselves  by  looking  out  from  our 
prison  house  upon  the  Catholic  processions  in  their  strange  cavort- 
ings  and  unaccountable  gyrations  through  the  streets  ;  and  watch 
the  various  intrigues  and  stolen  glances  among  the  belles  and 
beaux. 

The   warmth  and  geniality  of  the  climate   renders   the   use  of 
glass  in  the  windows  entirely  unnecessary,  and  to  keep  out  intrud 
ers  the  windows  are  grated  with  iron  bars,  about  an  inch  in  diam 
eter,  with  shutters  on  the  inside,  to  be  closed  when  occasion  may 
require  it.     These   windows  are  very  large,  and  open  from  the 
floor  to  the  ceiling,  and  being  the  most  pleasant  part  of  the  house 
during   the   heat  of  the   day,  are  almost  always  occupied  by  the 
ladies  of  the   family.     As   the  great   majority   of  the   houses  are 
only  one  story  high,  and  built  close  upon  the  streets,  this  custom  of 
sitting  in   the  windows  affords  fine  opportunities  for  lovers  to  steal 
an  occasional  interview.  The  ladies  being  thus  constantly  exposed 
to  the  gaze  of  the   public,  become    accustomed   to   it,   and    do 
not  deem  it  rudeness  for  entire  strangers  to  stare  at  them,  or  even 
stop  and  ask  them  questions.     But  it   was   not  long  before   we 
learned  to   distinguish  when  a   favorite  came  along,  as   the  lady 
would  then  manage  to  get  her  lips  through  the  interstices,  to  greet 
him  with  a  hearty  kiss.     And  they  are  not  to  be  blamed  for  such 
advances,  by  any  means  ;  for  paternal  tyranny  is  carried  to  excess 
in  most  of  the  cities  of  Mexico  —  a  gentleman   being  permitted 
to  visit  a  lady  but  three  or  four  times  (and  then  only  in  the  pres 
ence  of  her  mother,  aunt,  or  duenna^)  before  declaring  his  inten 
tions,     if  his   proposals  are  acceptable,  the  preliminaries  of  the 
marriage  are   forthwith  arranged,  without  consulting  the  feelings 
of  the  one  most  interested.     This   being  the  case,  it  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at   that  matrimonial   infidelity  and  intrigue  are  so  com 
mon  among  all   classes,  and  that   husbands  and  fathers  should  re 
sort  to  bolts   and   bars  (o  secure  that  virtue  for   their   wives   and 
daughters  which  should   have  been  instilled  into  their  minds  from 
infancy. 

But  notwithstanding  all  the  vigilance  of  fathers  and  guardians, 


76  DONNA  VAN'S     ADVENTURES. 

"  love  laughs  at  locksmiths,"  and  lovers  can  invent  a  thousand 
ways  to  hold  converse  with  each  other  ;  so  that  elopements  are  as 
common  there  as  births  in  the  "  log  cabin "  of  a  Hoosier. 
Among  all  classes,  parents  usually  sell  their  daughters  when  they 
become  marriageable,  for  $100  —  sometimes  for  less,  and  often 
for  a  "  mess  of  pottage." 

We  were  at  times  the  unperceived  witnesses  to  matrimonial  in 
trigues,  and  although  removed  beyond  the  voices  of  the  lovers, 
could  not  fail  to  anticipate  their  emotions  from  their  earnest  ges 
tures  ;  which,  if  we  interpreted  aright,  always  signified  that  they 
would  take  great  pleasure  in  dying  for  each  other.  In  the  even 
ings  we  could  sit  upon  the  windows,  and  listen  to  the  "poor 
man's  opera,"  which,  unlike  the  animated  instruments  by  which 
he  is  regaled  in  our  own  country,  consists  of  a  band  of  musicians, 
who  play  on  the  plaza  every  night,  from  eight  till  ten  o'clock,  for 
the  benefit  of  all  who  are  susceptible  of  being  "  moved  by  the 
concord  of  sweet  sounds." 

During  the  first  two  months  of  our  confinement,  we  were  em 
ployed  in  the  composition  of  a  "  Reprint  of  the  Ordinances  of 
the  city  of  Valladolid,"  which  entitled  us  to  an  occasional  visit 
from  the  Governor  of  the  province,  (Melchor  Ocampo,)  who  su 
perintended  the  publication.  He  is  among,  if  not  at  the  very 
head  of,  the  great  men  of  Mexico,  and  was  a  candidate  for  presi 
dent  at  the  last  election.  Ocampo  is  about  thirty-eight  years  of 
age,  rather  below  the  middling  size,  but  well  built.  His  fine  olive 
complexion  looks  darker  than  it  really  is,  from  the  jetty  blackness 
of  his  hair,  which  hangs  in  ringlets  about  his  face,  and  from  his 
extensive  mustachios  and  sparkling  black  eyes.  In  his  manners 
he  is  perfectly  easy  and  gentlemanlike,  and  though  the  first  im 
pressions  would  be,  from  his  extreme  politeness,  and  continual 
imiles,  that  he  was  a  good  natured  and  silly  fop,  yet  one  could 
see  from  his  keen,  inquisitive  glances,  which  involuntarily  escaped 
him,  that  he  concealed  under  an  almost  childish  lightness  of  man 
ner,  a  close  and  accurate  study  of  mankind.  He  speaks  fluently 
five  languages;  and  having  been  an  accurate  observer  of  human 
nature,  he  had  the  power  to  make  his  conversation  extremely  in 
structive,  though  he  seldom  took  the  pains  to  gratify  us  by  doing 
so.  His  political  talents  are  of  the  first  order,  and  his  mental 
resources  great.  He  seems  to  have  every  confidence  in  his  own 
power,  but  has  not  that  personal  firmness  and  hardihood  of  pur 
pose  to  lead  in  a  revolutionary  movement.  Nor  can  he  be  called 
cowardly,  for  he  has  on  many  occasions  resolutely  placed  himself 
in  situations  he  knew  to  be  dangerous ;  yet  when  danger  arrives, 
he  unfortunately  loses  his  coolness  and  presence  of  mind,  arid 
imbibes  that  impetuosity  of  Spanish  nature  so  fatal  to  all  prudence. 
He  openly  denounces  Santa  Anna  as  a  tyrant  and  usurper,  but  is 


IN     MEXICO. 


77 


the  warm  friend  of  Anaya,  at  that  time  the  Substitute  President. 
He  is  a  most  strenuous  advocate  of  the  war,  and  his  plan  of  con 
ducting  it  seems  to  show  his  sagacity  and  his  perfect  appreciation 
of  the  character  of  the  Mexican  soldiery.  He  would  have  the 
people  join  the  guerillas,  abandon  the  towns  and  cities,  and  carry 
their  property  oft'  to  the  mountains.  We  heard  him  assert,  with 
decided  emphasis  and  decision,  jhat  "should  Mexico  consent  to 
make  peace  with  the  Yankees,  he  would  fight  the  inhabitants  of 
the  other  provinces  as  soon  as  a  foreign  foe."  Such  is  his  aver 
sion  to  a  treaty  that  would  "  tarnish  their  integrity  or  infringe 
upon  their  nationality,  that  before  he  would  sanction  it — even 
were  his  own  Mechoacan  to  do  it  —  he  would  rather  expatriate 
himself  than  yield  to  it  and  live  in  a  dishonored  country."  But 
with  all  his  patriotism,  he  suffers  his  personal  feelings  and  individ 
ual  enmities  to  get  the  better  of  him  ;  and  I  believe  he  would 
sooner  subject  his  country  to  the  Turks  than  have  Santa  Anna 
get  the  credit  of  saving  her —  for  '•  his  own  Mechoacan  "  did  not 
contribute  a  soldier  to  the  army,  nor  did  the  contributions  in  funds 
by  the  clergy  of  Valladolid,  at  all  correspond  with  the  demands 
and  expectations  of  the  government.  While  other  bishoprics 
were  highly  commended  for  their  liberality,  his  was  strongly  con 
demned  as  niggardly  in  its  appropriations,  and  even  threatened 
with  official  and  popular  displeasure. 

Creditable  as  is  the  intellectual  character  of  Melchor  Ocampo  to 
himself  and  state,  it  would  seem  that  he  had  made  a  monopoly,  at 
least  of  geographical  knowledge.  It  is  true,  our  opportunities  for 
judging  of  the  intelligence  and  capacities  of  the  people  were  lim 
ited  ;  but  the  interrogatories  of  Senor  Gomez  Peyrelades,  the 
editor  of  "  El  Republicano,"  who,  from  his  position,  ought  to 
know  something  of  the  world  beyond  the  limits  of  the  Chinese 
shoe,  in  which  his  faculties  seemed  to  be  cooped  up,  and  which 
may  be  regarded  as  an  index  to  the  acquirements  of  the  educated 
portion  of  the  population,  we  could  arrive  at  no  very  favorable 
estimate  of  their  sprightliness.  Among  other  equally  silly  ques 
tions,  he  asked  us  in  a  most  grave  and  apparently  candid  man 
ner  through  his  associate,  "  If  all  the  United  Slates  embraced  as 
much  territory  as  the  province  of  Mechoacan,  and  if  the  popula 
tion  exceeded  three  millions."  He  remarked  that  he  had  "  recently 
had  a  dispute  with  the  bishop,  who  contended  that  the  United 
States  was  larger,  both  in  extent  of  territory  and  population,  than 
the  whole  of  the  republic  of  Mexico,  but  he  had  imputed  such  an 
extravagant  idea  to  the  priest's  ignorance."  The  fellow's  sym 
pathy  for  the  bishop's  ignorance  vastly  exceeded  his  own  knowl 
edge  ;  and  when  we  assured  him  that  our  country  was  much 
more  than  double  as  large  as  all  the  Mexican  provinces,  that  it 
contained  a  population  of  twenty  millions,  and  could  at  any  time 
7* 


78  DONNAVAN'S     ADVENTURES 

send  out  an  army  of  three  million  men,  he  began  to  think  we  wished 
to  intimidate  him  by  an  exaggerated  statement.  He  was  event 
ually  induced  to  "  swallow  the  truth,"  however,  our  assertions 
being  supported  by  the  evidence  of  his  partner,  Mons.  Buffam, 
who  had  heard  something  of  the  power  and  resources  of  the  Uni 
ted  States,  in  England,  during  the  war  of  1812,  and  had  himself 
touched  at  New  York,  at  a  later  period. 

But  the  most  difficult  matter  of  comprehension  to  the  editor 
was,  how  "  whig  generals  "  should  be  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
American  army,  while  the  administration  was  opposed  to  the 
whigs —  and  when  Corwin's  speech  against  the  war  was  received 
through  "  El  Monitor,"  from  the  city  of  Mexico,  we  were  asked 
if  Senor  Corwin  would  not  immediately  raise  a  company  of  volun 
teers,  issue  a  pronunciamento  and  attack  the  president !  The 
editor  was  delighted  with  the  speech,  and  republished  it,  by  in 
serting  some  two  columns  daily.  He  esteemed  Senor  Corwin  as 
far  superior  to  Senor  Polk,  in  political  sagacity  and  eloquence  of 
language.  But  poor  fellow,  he  knows  but  little  of  the  enlightened 
state  of  parties  in  this  country,  where  officials  can  abuse  each 
other  with  impunity,  and  where  greater  revolutions  have  been  con 
summated  by  the  pen  than  were  ever  accomplished  by  the  sword. 

On  the  12th  of  March,  intelligence  of  the  battle  of  Buena  Vis 
ta  was  received  at  the  office  of  "  El  Republicano."  The  official 
despatches  of  Santa  Anna,  representing  the  total  defeat  of  the 
American  forces,  were  hailed  by  manifestations  of  unbounded 
joy,  by  the  people,  though  the  governor  did  not  participate  in  the 
demonstrations  of  respect  paid  to  Santa  Anna,  by  a  few  of  the 
more  fanatical  adherents  of  the  war  party.  At  night,  rockets 
were  sent  heavenward,  till  the  very  stars  had  to  "  hide  their  dimin 
ished  heads,"  and  the  bells  of  more  than  forty  churches  pealed 
the  notes  of  the  triumph  of  the  cross.  We  began  to  think  that 
father  Miller  was  not  so  far  wrong  after  all,  in  his  elucidation  of 
Daniel's  Vision,  for  if  a  Mexican  army  could  defeat  Gen.  Taylor 
and  his  volunteers  with  half  a  chance,  there  was  evidently  some 
thing  wrong  in  the  elements.  For  some  days  we  were  compelled 
to  credit  the  reports,  till  the  arrival  of  a  bundle  of  New  Orleans 
papers,  which  they  always  graciously  permitted  us  to  peruse, 
brought  a  reliable  statement ;  and  caused  a  very  perceptible  elon 
gation  in  the  swarthy  visages  of  the  more  intelligent  Mexicans, 
vho  found  they  had  shouted  long  "before  they  were  out  of  the 
woods,"  but  they  suffered  the  great  mass  to  enjoy  the  bliss  of  ig 
norance,  and  encouraged  the  conclusion  that  they  were  invincible. 

It  should  not  be  inferred  from  this  premature  manifestation  of 
joy  at  the  supposed  success  of  their  arms,  that  the  people  of  the 
province  of  Mechoacan  are  decidedly  hostile  to  the  United  States. 
The  truth  is,  they  know  nothing  of  our  people,  country,  01  insti- 


IN       MEXICO.  79 

tutions ;  and  the  ignorant  dupes  of  a  few  blind  leaders — the 
victims  of  passion  and  impulse,  they  prefer  to  rejoice  on  any  occa 
sion.  In  the  last  presidential  canvass  their  legislature  voted  unan 
imously  for  Herrara,  the  peace  candidate. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

Easter,  and  its  Amusements  —  Visit  to  the  Cathedral  —  Description  of  the  Edifice 
—  Our  Employment  —  The  Spanish  Alphabet  —  Change  in  Discipline  —  Im 
provement  in  Diet  —  Masticating  Monkeys  —  The  Ladies  —  Their  Hospitality 
and  Accomplishments  —  Love  and  its  Doings. 

EASTER  came.  Again  all  the  markets,  shops,  and  stores  were 
closed  :  though  the  holidays,  (and  Easter  is  the  greatest  of  them 
all,)  instead  of  being  a  relief  to  us,  were  oppressive.  Imme 
diately  after  morning  mass,  there  was  a  general  run,  ride,  and 
drive  out  of  the  city  to  a  neighboring  palmetto  and  cocoa,  where 
tents  were  erected,  plays  established,  and  joy  and  pleasure  reigned 
supreme.  This  continued  for  eight  days,  and  at  the  end  of  the 
amusements,  all  went  to  the  church-yard,  where  every  grave  bears 
its  name  and  particular  sign.  Here  wine,  pulque,  bread  and 
steak,  and  whatsoever  else  will  gratify  the  stomach,  is  brought, 
and  they  eat  and  drink  over  the  graves  —  drink  complimentary 
toasts  to  the  dead,  and  amuse  themselves  rurally  and  morally.  In 
this  manner,  they  recompense  themselves  for  the  long  forty  days' 
fast,  in  which  their  religion  prevents  them  from  eating  meat,  eggs, 
butter,  milk,  and  cheese,  and  during  which  period  we  lost  a  good 
deal  more  flesh  than  Shylock  demanded  of  the  Merchant  of 
Venice. 

More  out  of  "  familiar  impertinence,"  than  any  other  motive, 
we  solicited  the  privilege  of  going  to  church  on  Easter  Sunday. 
Our  request  was  promptly  and  unexpectedly  granted,  and  we  went 
more  to  gratify  our  curiosity,  than  from  any  hope  of  being  seriously 
benefited.  Our  masters  employing  an  escort  of  twelve  men,  we 
were  for  the  first  time  since  our  confinement,  permitted  to  enter 
the  streets  of  the  city.  There  are  over  forty  churches  in  Valla- 
dolid,  but  we  had  signified  our  desire  to  see  the  cathedral.  Pass 
ing  by  the  church  of  San  Francisco,  whose  triple  portals  might 
be  considered  fine  specimens  of  the  florid  Gothic  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  and  whose  wooden  doors,  elaborately  and  beautifully 
carved,  are  certainly  well  worthy  the  attention  of  the  curious;  we 


80  DONNAVAN'S     ADVENTURES 

hastened  on  to  see  the  finest  building  in  the  city  ;  a  church  that, 
in  size,  purity  of  style,  and  excellent  workmanship,  far  surpasses 
the  cathedral  in  Cincinnati,  and  would  vie  with  Trinity  church  in 
New  York.  Indeed,  it  is  regarded  as  among  the  finest  Gothic 
edifices  in  the  world,  and  certainly  its  effect  is  fine  beyond  de 
scription.  In  twenty-five  years  the  building  was  commenced  and 
completed,  and  was  dedicated  at  the  beginning  of  the  19th  century. 
Behig  built  before  the  revolution,  when  the  country  enjoyed  repose, 
the  same  plan  was  pursued  from  beginning  to  end,  and  there  was  a 
simplicity  attained  —  a  certain  kind  of  judicious  finish  and  orna 
ment,  that  gives  to  this  mass  of  "  stone  and  mortar  "  such  an  air 
of  completeness  —  of  being  done  —  that,  as  we  looked  upon  the 
work,  we  involuntarily  uttered,  "Amen."  The  central  tower  is 
250  feet  in  height,  and  is  composed  wholly  of  open  arches  and 
tracery,  crowned  by  an  octangular  band  of  flower-de-luce.  It  is 
certainly  the  most  graceful  and  beautiful  tower  I  ever  beheld. 
But  the  interior  is,  if  possible,  more  imposing  than  the  exterior. 
The  extreme  length  is  440  feet,  and  the  height  100.  The  finest 
specimens  of  Spanish  oil  paintings  adorn  the  walls,  while  the 
altar  is  of  beautiful  marble,  and  the  railing,  balustrades,  and  images 
are  of  pure  gold.  I  do  not  know  how  to  describe  the  elegant,  quiet 
simplicity  of  the  interior,  that,  in  spite  of  prejudices,  charmed  me 
more  and  more,  till  I  forcibly  tore  myself  away  from  gazing. 
The  light  is  peculiarly  strong,  owing  to  the  immense  size  of  the 
clerestory  windows,  and  yet  the  rich  coloring  of  the  stained  glass 
softens  it  down  to  the  most  agreeable  mellowness. 

While  we  stared  at  the  church,  we  wen-  stared  at  in  turn  by 
the  congregation,  and  fearing  the  priest  would  become  jealous  of 
the  attention  the  comparative  lightness  of  our  complexions  elicited, 
as  soon  as  the  last  thundering  notes  of  the  organ  concluded  the 
vespers,  we  returned,  passing  through  the  public  plaza,  and  taking 
a  view  of  the  Governor's  palace. 

We  were  fast  growing  in  the  favor  and  esteem  of  our  new 
masters.  True  to  the  policy  we  adopted  on  the  first  night  of  our 
captivity,  we  omitted  no  opportunity  to  flatter  their  vanity,  and 
had  not  only  succeeded  in  inducing  the  belief  that  our  respect  for 
them  was  unbounded,  but  that  we  had  become  so  allied  to  their 
customs,  as  to  have  little  desire  to  return  home.  These  declara 
tions  were  received  in  better  faith  than  they  were  made,  so  far  as 
the  author  is  concerned,  yet  they  were  not  relied  on  with  the  most 
implicit  confidence.  The  trifling  annoyances  we  had  at  first 
encountered  in  becoming  familiar  with  the  case,  the  alphabet,  and 
the  accented  letters,  were  now  avoided,  and  we  could  compose  in 
Spanish  with  almost  as  much  facility  as  in  English  type.  Indeed, 
the  alphabets  of  the  two  languages  are  almost  identical — the 
former  dispensing  with  our  w,  and  adopting  three  double  letters 


IN       MEXICO.  81 

—  ch,  II,  andrr — increasing  the  number  of  characters  to  twenty- 
eight.  At  our  suggestion,  the  cases  had  been  placed  upon  stands, 
the  type  completely  cleansed,  and  we  had  introduced  rollers, 
which  were  as  great  an  innovation  upon  balls,  as  our  steamboats 
were  upon  "  broadhorns  "  —  we  had  renovated  u  El  Republicano," 
so  that  even  its  most  familiar  acquaintances  could  scarcely  recog 
nize  it.  In  fact,  we  had  produced  a  revolution  in  the  appearance 
of  things  generally,  quite  creditable  to  our  ingenuity.  And  our 
enterprise  redounded  greatly  to  our  advantage.  These  little  acts 
of  kindness,  which  cost  nothing,  resulted  in  affecting  a  complete 
change  in  our  prison  discipline.  We  were  fitted  out  in  new  linen 
gear  —  each  adopting  the  French  blouse,in  imitation  of  the  "  bet 
ter  classes."  The  hours  of  labor  were  curtailed  from  twelve  to 
eight  per  day,  and  instead  of  bringing  our  tortillas,  chili,  and  bean 
soup  to  our  prison  room,  the  entrance  to  which  was  always 
secured,  and  feeding  us  like  caged  animals,  we  were  permitted  to 
take  our  meals  with  the  families,  on  the  second  floor  of  the  com 
modious  building.  These  were  courtesies  that  our  most  sanguine 
anticipations  had  not  reached  ;  and  we  had  been  so  long  accus 
tomed  to  dining  like  Turks,  that  we  felt  really  awkward  and 
embarrassed  in  resuming  such  weapons  as  a  knife  and  fork  at  the 
table !  But  the  excellence  of  the  diet  surprised  us  more  than  all. 
Aside  from  the  immoderate  use  of  pepper  and  garlic,  which  com 
pletely  usurps  the  original  flavor  of  every  dish  —  it  was  such  as 
to  excite  the  admiration  of  an  epicure.  Added  to  the  usual  lux 
uries  to  be  found  on  the  tables  of  hotels  in  the  United  States,  we 
here  found  every  variety  of  tropical  fruits  —  oranges,  figs,  bana 
nas,  yams,  etc.,  besides  monkeys  and  parrots.  At  first,  we  con 
fess  we  felt  some  compunctions  of  conscience  in  devouring  such  a 
delicacy  as  the  carcass  of  a  dead  monkey  —  alarmed  at  such  an 
advance  towards  cannibalism.  But  the  force  of  example  soon 
reconciled  our  misgivings,  and  the  very  idea,  at  first  revolting, 
became  a  luxury.  Monkey  stock  is  not  to  say  plenty  in  the  prov 
ince  of  Mechoacan  ;  yet  they  abound  in  Yucatan,  and  being 
taken  when  very  young,  they  are  fattened  like  pigs,  and  sold  in 
the  markets.  They  are  an  excellent  dish,  possessing  a  flavor  far 
superior  to  that  of  our  squirrel,  and  highly  prized  by  the  Mexi 
cans.  The  parrot,  when  fat  and  served  in  the  same  manner, 
could  not  be  distinguished  from  the  American  pheasant.  Choco 
late  is  a  favorite  beverage,  and  is  manufactured,  though  not  to 
any  great  extent,  in  Valladolid. 

But  the  ladies  —  it  would  be  ungallant  to  leave  them  unnoticed. 
In  our  new  relation,  we  were  ushered  into  the  society  of  no  less 
than  six  —  the  wife  and  daughter  of  Mons.  Buffam,  arid  the  wife 
and  three  daughters  of  Senor  Gomez  Peyrelades  —  the  latter,  all 
of  pure  Castilian  blood.  In  age  the  young  ladies  varied  from  14 


82  DONNAVAN'S     ADVENTURES 

up  to  26,  only  one  of  whom  could  be  called  really  handsome. 
But  they  soon  became  the  most  familiar  and  inquisitive  creatures 
I  had  ever  seen  in  any  country.  I  would  recommend  all  timid 
bachelors  to  go  to  Mexico  at  once.  They  spoke  the  Spanish  and 
French  languages  fluently,  and  had  a  slight  smattering  of  English. 
It  was  not  long  before  they  commenced  paying  us  some  very  hand 
some  compliments,  and  apprised  us  of  the  important  fact  that  they 
—  having  understood  we  were  both  entirely  white  —  had  been 
in  ecstacies  ever  since  our  arrival,  to  have  us  introduced  into  the 
family,  and  that  they  had  at  last  succeeded  in  accomplishing  their 
wishes.  To  us  there  was  something  rather  mysterious  connected 
with  all  these  new  tokens  of  hospitality,  but  we  "  bore  our  blush 
ing  honors  meekly."  We  had  fallen  upon  strange  times,  and  the 
dark  shadows  which  had  hung  gloomily  over  our  destiny,  were  fast 
receding  before  a  brighter  future. 

For  who  is  impervious  to  the  dark  eyes  and  soft  smiles  of  wo 
man  ?  Our  names  and  awkward  manners  afforded  them  curiosity 
and  amusement  —  for  the  Spanish  ladies  are  excessively  polite,  in 
their  own  way.  My  name  commencing  with  Don,  I  was  regarded 
as  a  descendant  from  the  Spanish  nobility  —  but  it  was  difficult  for 
me  to  reconcile  such  a  conclusion  under  existing  circumstances. 
For  aside  from  my  humble  position  as  a  slave,  I  was  mortified  by 
being  frequently  reminded  of  the  fact  that  I  was  not  so  buena  as 
Senor  Cunningham.  This  partiality,  however  just,  I  attributed  in 
some  measure  to  having  imprudently  revealed  my  connubial  respon 
sibility  in  the  United  States.  My  friend  Cunningham  had  yet  no 
such  desirable  encumbrances,  though  his  prospects  were  becoming 
flattering.  The  large  black  eye,  the  dark  expressive  glance,  the 
soft  blood-tinged,  olive  glowing  complexion  of  Policarpa  Peyrelades, 
the  belle  of  the  establishment,  made  him  unwillingly  confess  the 
majesty  of  Spanish  beauty.  And  though  he  readily  acknowledged 
that  the  soft,  blue  eyes,  and  delicate  loveliness  of  his  own  country 
women,  could  awaken  more  tender  feelings  of  interest,  he  would 
not  deny  or  dispute  the  commanding  superiority  of  this  dark- 
eyed  and  finely  formed  damsel.  And  she  was  sensible,  too.  She 
had  even  learned,  what  precocious  children  in  our  own  "  best  cir 
cles  "  often  do,  that  her  father  was  a  fool.  Without  discussing 
the  justness  of  her  conclusion,  we  will  present  some  evidence  of  her 
accomplishments.  Cervantes  was  her  Shakspeare,  most  of  whose 
productions  she  had  committed  to  memory.  Besides  singing  "  di 
vinely,"  and  playing  on  the  guitar  and  piano,  she  was  a  poetess ! 
Her  effusions  frequently  graced  the  columns  of  "  El  Republicano," 
and  some  of  which,  in  our  uninitiated  judgment,  possessed  decided 
merit.  The  passion  of  love  inspires  a  passion  for  poetry  ;  and  be 
ing  beyond  the  influence  of  either,  I  will  be  pardoned  for  intro 
ducing  a  specimen  of  her  production.  The  lines  were  addressed 


IN       MEXICO.  83 

to  my  friend  Cunningham,  after  he  had  so   far   advanced    as    to 
assure  her  that  she  was  his. 

FIRST   LOVE. 

TRANSLATED  FROM  EL  REPUBLICANO. 

"  Guard  well  within  thy  memory  the  love  of  early  days, 
Nor  seek  in  winter's  snowy  breast  affection's  flame  to  raise ; 
For  the  loves  which  fill  the  guileless  heart,  while  from  suspicion  free, 
Are  dearer  far  than  after  ones,  how  true  soe'er  they  be. 

"The  cherished  loves  of  life's  young  morn,  when  every  thought  glows  warm, 
And  fills  the  clouds  with  sapphire  towers  and  many  a  fairy  form  ; 
Oh,  lose  them  not  by  cold  neglect,  or  hope  not  to  regain, 
The  plant  of  love  once  chilled  with  frost  will  never  spring  again. 

"The  dream  of  passion's  spring-time  hour  —  the  full  heart's  overflow, 
Chilled  by  the  world's  cold  frown  are  hushed,  and  quenched  their  genial  glow, 
And  life's  dull,  dread  realities,  in  all  their  bitter  truth, 
Impart  to  us  the  lesson  learned  — '  We  have  no  second  youth.' 

"Go  wander  through  the  labyrinths  of  fashion's  giddy  throng, 
And  view  gay  pleasure's  masquerade,  or  list  her  syren  song; 
Taste  every  cup  of  bliss,  and  roam  where  fancy's  voice  may  call, 
Yet  shall  the  thought  of 'love's  young  dream '  be  dearer  than  them  all. 

"Cherish  thy  first  young  love,  then,  as  a  principle —  a  part 
Of  that  pure  bliss  which  heaven  itself  enshrines  within  the  heart ; 
It  is  the  clear  untainted  fount  of  undefined  desire, 
The  substance  and  the  essence  pure  of  the  Promethean  fire." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

News  q/*  the  Investment  of  Tcra  Cruz  —  Battle  of  Cerro  Gordo  —  Character  of 
Cunningham  —  Influence  of  Love  —  Unfavorable  Change  in  Treatment  — 
Escape  from  Valladolid  —  Passing  the  Gates  —  Departure  for  Queretaro  — 
Tomatoes  —  A  Rancho  —  Hospitality  of  the  Women  —  Baking  Tortillas  — 
Assumption  of  anew  Character  —  Rio  Grande  de  Santiago  —  Banyan  Trees  — 
Mountain  Scenery  —  Jin  American  Physician — His  Character  and  Kindness 
—  Education  of  Lizards  —  City  of  Queretaro  —  A  Mexican  Diligence  —  Ar 
rival  at  the  City  of  Mexico. 

INTELLIGENCE  communicating  the  defeat  of  the  Mexican  forces 
at  Cerro  Gordo,  following  the  receipt  of  the  official  statement  which 
announced  the  investment  of  Vera  Cruz,  by  the  army  under  Gen. 
Scott,  did  not  fail  to  produce  sensations  of  alarm  among  the  ranks 
of  the  war  party  at  Valladolid,  and  it  was  even  conceded  by  the 


84  DONNAVAN'S     ADVENTURES 

editor  of  "  El  Republicano  "  that  the  capital  was  speedily  destined 
to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  invading  army.  Although  our  situa 
tion  had  become  comparatively  agreeable,  save  the  close  confine 
ment  to  which  we  were  subjected,  we  could  not  anticipate  the 
consequences  that  might  ensue  to  us,  either  in  the  event  of  a  sub 
jugation  of  the  country,  or  a  cessation  of  hostilities.  Isolated  and 
remote  as  we  were  from  the  capital,  our  condition  could  not  be 
made  known  there.  During  the  period  of  seven  months  we  had 
been  prisoners  within  the  power  and  at  the  mercy  of  the  enemy, 
we  .had  never  been  permitted  to  communicate  a  syllable  to  our 
friends.  We  did  not  ask  to  transmit  our  confidential  thoughts,  but 
merely  to  apprise  our  friends  of  our  fate  and  confinement.  This 
privilege,  however,  they  would  grant  us  under  no  considerations. 
Nor  were  we  allowed  to  see  or  communicate  with  our  own  coun 
trymen,  several  of  whom  we  had  learned  were  residing  in  the  city  ; 
but  who,  had  they  known  and  been  disposed  to  reveal  our  situa 
tion,  would  have  been  detected,  as  no  communication  can  leave 
the  city  without  first  having  passed  through  the  hands  of  an  in 
spector,  clothed  with  authority  to  suppress  whatever  his  judgment 
may  dictate. 

It  is  certainly  mortifying  enough  to  have  one's  genius  eternally 
cramped  within  the  narrow  limits  of  our  best  printing  offices  in  the 
United  States,  but  in  Mexico  he  will  find  its  expansions  most 
rigidly  prescribed.  After  four  months'  labor,  without  any  com 
pensation  but  the  bare  supply  of  l(  food  and  raiment,"  we  had 
grown  not  only  weary  of  our  situation,  irksome  and  monotonous 
as  was  the  routine  of  our  duties,  but  daily  experienced  an  increas 
ing  desire  to  return  to  our  own  country.  Added  to  all  this,  a 
partiality  for  my  friend  Cunningham,  which  could  not  be  concealed, 
had  in  a  measure  alienated  him  from  me.  He  was  one  of  those 
frank,  ardent,  high-minded  companions,  to  whom  a  soul  might  be 
entrusted  ;  and  his  ready  fund  of  wit  and  sentiment,  as  occasion 
required,  had  served  to  beguile  many  a  we^ary  hour,  in  the  long 
night  of  our  mutual  perils.  From  the  nature  of  our  position,  we 
had  formed  a  kind  of  alliance,  offensive  and  defensive  ;  and  amid 
the  hum  of  the  foreign  language,  for  a  time  incomprehensible,  had 
indulged  in  the  sweet  sounds  of  our  mother  tongue.  Fellow- 
sufferers,  engaged  in  kindred  pursuits,  linked  in  the  same  uncer 
tain  destiny,  we  had  shared  each  other's  joys  and  sorrows,  and 
studied  each  other's  domestic  habits,  somewhat  after  the  amiable 
manner  of  the  Siamese  twins.  But  the  man  was  now  "  in  love," 
and  his  character  had  undergone  a  total  change.  Mankind  are 
too  apt  to  conclude  that  others  can  feel  the  same  interest  in  their 
idividual  affairs,  as  they  do  themselves  —  especially  is  it  so  with 
lovers,  who  suppose  the  world  is  as  completely  convulsed  as  their 
own  overflowing  hearts  ;  and  who,  when  they  fairly  surrender,  the 


IN    MEXICO.  •         .          85 

victims  of  that  passion,  are  about  as  fit  far  society  as  a  Mexican  is 
for  the  enjoyment  of  enlightened  liberty/  They  ar^u  company  " 
for  no  one  but  themselves,  creating  as-' they  do,  a/kind  of  world  ^ 
within  themselves.  I  could  not  censure  or  reprove  my  friend,  for  J? 
I  had  been  a  victim  to  the  same  influence  —  nor  did  [wonder  that  S 
the  citadel  of  his  heart  was  no  more  successful  in  resisting  an 
attack  from  the  fortress  of  the  fair  Policarpa,  than  were  her  coun 
trymen  from  the  well  poised  charges  of  the  "  army  of  occupation." 
Yet  I  was  the  sufferer.  While  he  was  cared  for  and  caressed,  I 
became  neglected.  Mine  was  a  most  unenviable  lot — shut  up 
in  prison,  and  shut  out  from  the  last  claim  I  had  upon  human 
sympathy — I  stood  "solitary  and  alone,  amid  the  jeers  of  an  in 
constant  world."  While  at  night  I  was  securely  locked  in  the 
narrow  rooyn  in  the  garret,  which  we  had  jointly  occupied,  to  sleep 
upon  a  rude  bed  made  of  strips  of  cowhide  interlaced,  he  was  con 
ducted  to  better  apartments,  to  sleep  with  I  know  not  whom,  for 
travelling  through  this  world  "  makes  strange  bed-fellows,"  and  in 
Mexico  I  have  known  "  broad  hints  "  to  be  given  even  by  fathers. 

Under  such  an  unfavorable  combination  of  circumstances,  it  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at,  that  if  from  no  higher  motives  than  to 
avoid  the  constant  evidences  of  the  inferiority  of  mj  position,  I 
should  eagerly  embrace  the  first  opportunity  to  escape.  On  the 
night  of  the  3d  of  May  (1847,)  from  some  cause,  which  will 
probably  never  be  satisfactorily  explained  even  to  myself,  I  awoke 
about  the  hour  of  midnight,  and  found  the  door  of  my  room  un 
locked  and  open.  This  room,  which  had  no  window,  and  but  the 
one  door,  communicated  with  the  printing  office,  where,  after 
drawing  on  my  new  Spanish  habiliments,  I  procured  the  small 
cords  from  several  bundles  of  printing  paper,  and  tying  them 
together,  carefully  secured  one  end  near  a  window  in  the  hall  of 
the  office,  and  taking  the  other,  through  that  aperture,  I  let  myself 
quietly  down  into  the  street.  It  was  the  first  time  I  had  ever 
found  myself  dangling  in  the  air  at  the  end  of  a  rope,  and  I  trust 
may  be  the  last  —  though  I  confess  it  was  "  pulling  hemp  "  to 
some  purpose.  It  was  an  undignified,  unenviable,  and  indelicate 
position,  and  describing  it  I  must  have  the  licence  of  undignified 
terms.  The  truth  is,  what  little  of  dignity  I  ever  possessed  was 
pretty  well  compromised  while  in  a  state  of  menial  servitude. 

Free  in  the  city,  I  yet  had  to  pass  the  gates,  which  I  managed 
without  difficulty,  through  the  knowledge  I  had  acquired  of  the 
Spanish  language.  During  our  confinement,  I  had  carelessly  made 
enquiry  about  the  roads  to  the  city  of  Mexico,  Queretaro,  and 
various  other  places.  Of  the  gate  keeper  1  enquired  the  road  to 
the  city  of  Mexico,  but  instead  of  following  it,  to  avoid  pursuit,  I 
took  the  road  to  Queretaro,  and  with  a  peculiar  mingling  of  hope 
and  fear,  bid  adieu  to  the  city  of  Valladolid.  I  did  not  experi- 
8 


86  DONNAVAN'S  ADVENTURES 

»  % 

ence  the  confusion  wrtich  characterizes  the  conduct  of  a  culprit, 
for  I  felt  conscious  of  n\y  rights,  if  ever  I  should  have  the  good 
fortune  to  recover  them  ;  and  this  stratagem  may  have  prevented 
my  being  overtaken  and  re-captured.  Being  an  accomplished 
pedestrian,  with  an  extensive  practice,  I  must  have  travelled  some 
twenty  miles  before  daylight  ;  when  leaving  the  road,  I  secured 
myself  for  the  day  among  the  chaperal,  where  I  had  the  company 
of  a  family  of  lizards  as  numerous  as  the  John  Smiths.  Whether 
pursued  or  not,  I  neither  learned  nor  cared,  after  escaping. 

Taking  up  the  line  of  march,  early  on  the  second  night  I  came 
in  sight  of  the  town  of  Charo,  which  I  avoided  by  a  kind  of  semi 
circle  zigzag  manoeuvre  through  the  mountain  paths  of  the  Cordil 
leras.  Here  I  met  with  the  good  fortune  to  encounter  a  tomato 
patch,  a  vegetable  of  spontaneous  growth,  and  on  which  I  gratified 
my  appetite  and  subsisted  for  the  first  three  days.  On  the  morn 
ing  of  the  third  day  after  my  escape,  arriving  in  the  delightful  val 
ley  of  the  Rio  Grande  de  Santiago,  I  ventured  to  make  a  call  at  a 
rancho.  Here  I  found  the  miserable  looking  excuses  for  men 
stretched  out  upon  their  floors  in  a  state  of  profound  somnolency. 
Permitting  them  to  enjoy  their  repose,  the  ladies  most  generously 
and  hospitably  prepared  an  excellent  breakfast,  consisting  of  veni 
son,  fregoles,  chili,  chocolate,  and  tortillas.  The  latter  is  a  kind 
of  corn  cake,  which  is  the  only  bread  found  among  the  inhabitants 
of  Mexico,  out  of  the  towns  and  cities.  The  process  of  making 
them  I  had  never  before  witnessed,  and  the  Senoritas,  although 
they  did  not  know  me  from  Adam,  seemed  to  take  great  pleasure 
in  initiating  me  into  the  mysteries  of  their  manufacture.  The 
common  Indian  corn  is,  in  the  first  place,  put  into  an  earthen  vessel 
containing  lime-water,  where  it  is  soaked  to  remove  the  husk  —  it 
is  afterwards  crushed  between  two  stones,  shaped  for  the  purpose, 
into  a  thick  paste,  made  into  flat  cakes  and  baked  on  a  clay  grid 
dle.  A  very  liberal  sprinkling  of  pulverized  chili  (a  small  red  pep 
per  from  which  cayenne  is  manufactured,)  is  usually  introduced 
to  the  dough,  making  it  "  go  off  like  hot  cakes"  in  reality. 

The  ladies  were  as  inquisitive  as  the  veriest  Yankee  from  Ver 
mont;  but  I  had  prepared  a  tale  for  them.  Robberies  being  of  com 
mon  and  almost  every  day  occurrence  there,  I  represented  myself 
as  an  English  merchant  from  Guanajuato,  returning  from  Zacatula, 
on  the  Pacific,  and  as  having  been  attacked  by  banditti,  who  stripped 
me  of  not  only  my  money,  but  the  mustang  on  which  I  had  been 
mounted,  and  came  within  a  •'  squiirel's  jump,"  of  taking  my  life, 
in  the  bargain.  Englishmen  stand  high  in  the  estimation  of  both 
the  people  and  government,  and  their  sympathies  for  me  were  un 
bounded.  I  made  an  apology  for  being  unable  to  remunerate  them, 
when  they  gave  me  to  understand  that  it  was  an  insult  to  Mexi 
can  character  to  offer  such  a  thing,  even  were  I  loaded  down  with 
jewels. 


IN       MEXICO.  .          87 

Leaving  the  rancho,  as  I  proceeded  down  the  valley  of  the  San 
tiago  river,  I  passed  through  a  large  grove  of  banyan  trees.  This 
tree  has  been  regarded  as  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  world,  and  is 
certainly  among  nature's  most  admirable  productions.  It  is  a 
growth  only  of  those  climes  where  she  has  lavished  her  bounties  in 
the  greatest  profusion  and  variety.  The  main  trunk  throws  forth 
its  branches  in  long,  hanging,  and  at  first,  tender  fibres,  which  on 
reaching  the  earth  root,  and  become  in  their  turn  parent  trunks, 
sending  forth  their  own  branches.  A  grove  thus  formed,  presents 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  luxuriant  views  that  can  be  imagined. 
The  leaves  are  large,  soft,  and  of  a  lively  green  ;  the  fruit  is  a 
small  fig,  when  ripe  of  a  bright  scarlet,  affording  sustenance  to 
monkeys,  squirrels,  peacocks,  parrots,  and  birds  of  various  kinds 
which  dwell  among  their  branches,  and  were  indulging  in  their 
peculiar  antics,  as  I  passed. 

Upon  crossing  the  Santiago,  and  entering  the  province  of  Quer- 
etaro,  I  again  approached  the  mountains,  the  defiles  of  which,  at 
first  open,  soon  became  so  contracted  as  scarcely  to  leave  a  pas 
sage,  while  the  hills  on  either  side  became  wilder  and  more  lofty. 
On  their  surface  was  a  low  brushwood  of  oak  and  holly,  scarcely 
hiding  the  dark  rocks  that  were  piled  loosely  above  one  another,, 
and  ready  to  crush  down  at  the  slightest  impulse.  Within  these 
narrow  ravines,  mountain  rivulets  were  collected  in  strong  currents, 
which  rattled  among  masses  of  huge  rock,  and  often  swept,  in* 
broad  flakes  of  foam,  across  the  narrow  road  which  wound  through 
the  valleys. 

In  approaching  the  city  of  Queretaro,  through  the  province  of  the 
same  name,  I  found  the  country  more  thickly  populated  than  any 
other  portion  of  Mexico  I  had  visited.  After  receiving  such  tokens 
of  regard  at  the  first  rancho  at  which  I  had  visited,  I  did  not  hesi 
tate  to  call  at  others,  and  on  relating  the  same  plausible  story, 
received  similar  demonstrations  of  kindness.  Within  two  miles  of 
the  city  I  was  overtaken  by  a  gentleman  on  horseback.  He  was 
riding  the  noblest  looking  animal  I  had  seen  in  the  country,  and 
from  his  complexion  I  was  at  once  convinced  that  he  was  not  a 
native,  although  he  addressed  me  in  Spanish.  We  had  proceeded 
but  a  short  distance,  till,  arriving  at  his  residence,  he  invited  me  in. 
Fearing  to  enter  the  city  of  Queretaro,  arid  hailing  this  as  the  only 
source  through  which  to  receive  the  necessary  information  by  which 
my  course  might,  be  regulated,  I  availed  myself  of  his  politeness. 
Upon  a  mutual  interchange  of  the  ordinary  inquiries,  I  found  him 
to  be  a  native  of  Maryland,  and  a  practising  physician,  who  had; 
amassed  immense  wealth  by  his  profession  during  his  residence  in 
Mexico,  where  he  was  living  in  princely  style.  I  had  found  another 
bright  spot,  an  oasis,  in  the  great  desert  of  my  perilous  pilgrimage. 
To  him  I  revealed  rny  true  character,  and  the  history  of  my  adven- 


88  DONNAVAN'S     ADVENTURES 

tures.  Being  an  American,  a  man  of  generous  sympathies,  and 
more  than  ordinary  sagacity,  he  readily  proposed  to  assist  me,  with 
out  at  all  compromising  his  own  safety.  After  my  journey  of  112 
miles,  I  remained  with  the  doctor,  (Stevenson,)  during  the  follow 
ing  day  to  refresh  myself.  When  we  had  despatched  an  unpep- 
pered  dinner,  and  were  enjoying  our  cigars  under  a  broad  spread 
ing  tamarind  tree,  his  lizards  came  down  to  repel  the  attacks  of  the 
mosquitos.  It  is  astonishing  what  education  will  accomplish.  The 
doctor's  kindness  for  animals  has  developed  instincts  and  awakened 
affections  that  would  not  discredit  a  race  of  intellectual  beings. 
When  he  returns  from  the  city,  his  beautiful  fan-tailed  pigeons 
come  with  their  familiar  greetings  to  his  carriage  and  perch  upon 
his  shoulders,  and  his  lizards  jump  from  the  trees  into  his  hands. 
He  related  an  incident  which  occurred  several  years  since,  while 
lie  resided  near  Vera  Cruz,  showing  the  remarkable  instinct  of 
these  reptiles.  A  huge  lizard  that  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  his 
'tail  by  some  accident,  marched  into  his  office  with  the  dismembered 
•limb  in  his  mouth,  and  approached  him  as  if  seeking  relief!  This 
looks  like  rather  a  remarkable  "  snake  story,"  but  is  nevertheless 
.asserted  by  him  as  a  fact,  and  he  regards  the  circumstance  as  a 
tribute  to  his  surgical  skill. 

The  succeeding  morning  found  us  driving  to  the  city  of  Quere- 
taro.  Instructing  me  to  retain  the  assumed  character  of  an  Eng- 
'lish  merchant,  on  our  arrival  at  the  city  I  was  introduced  as  such, 
though  my  ignorance  of  the  niceties  of  trade  and  commerce,  poorly 
qualified  me  for  sustaining  the  position.  I  played  the  somewhat 
difficult  part,  however,  without  suspicion,  so  far  as  I  know,  and 
through  the  influence  of  Dr.  Stevenson,  I  was  tendered  a  seat  in  a 
diligence,  which  was  to  leave  in  a  few  days  for  the  city  of  Mexico, 
in  company  with  a  real  English  merchant.  This  arrangement  per 
fected,  after  furnishing  me  with  means,  and  a  note  of  introduction 
to  Mr.  Black,  the  American  consul,  he  left  me  enjoying  high  hopes 
and  spirits,  and  a  heart  overflowing  with  gratitude  ;  as  it  was  then 
regarded  as  certain  that  Gen.  Scott  and  his  army  were  "  revelling 
in  the  halls  of  the  Montezumas." 

During  the  evening  we  took  a  stroll  through  the  city,  which  sur 
passes  in  point  of  beauty,  cleanliness,  and  laziness,  all  others  in 
Mexico.  The  buildings  are  handsome  and  commodious,  and  ex 
hibit  a  refinement  of  taste  in  their  construction  seldom  met  with 
;in  that  country  ;  while  the  streets  are  wide,  well  paved,  with  spa 
cious  sidewalks.  Included  within  its  wails  are  three  large  public 
plazas,  beautifully  adorned  with  shrubbery  and  a  rich  variety  of 
flowers.  The  population  is  supposed  to  reach  50,000  ;  and  the 
magnificence  of  its  public  buildings  almost  challenge  competition. 
Among  its  most  splendid  and  extensive  public  works,  is  a  stone 
aqueduct,  by  which  the  city  is  supplied  with  water,  and  which  is 


IN       MEXICO.  ^  *55f 

some  ten  or  twelve  miles  in  length  ;  and  the  great  convent  of  Santa 
Clara,  said  to  occupy  a  circumference  of  twelve  thousand  feet. 

On  the  morning  of  the  14th,  we  took  our  seats  in  a  Mexican 
diligence,  which  resembles  more  than  anything  else,  a  common 
bedstead  inclosed  with  green  painted  canvass,  on  wheels,  with  four 
rnules  hitched  abreast;  and  passing  through  the  unimportant 
towns  of  San  Juan,  Huitoke,  Tula,  and  Guatitlan,  we  arrived  safely 
in  the  city  of  Mexico  on  the  1 6th  of  May. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

City  of  Mexico  —  Public  Grounds  —  Public  Buildings  —  The  Mint  —  Coining 
Gold — Hotels — Theatres  —  Newspaper  Press  of  the  City  —  Literature  — 
Society  — Manners  and  Customs — Dress  —  Suburbs  —  Cemetery  — Population. 

I  WAS  disappointed  in  my  ideal  picture  of  the  city  of  Mexico. 
Like  many  others,  I  had  imagined  it  to  be  a  counterpart  of  the 
great  Venice  across  the  waters,  only  with  the  additional  attraclions 
of  floating  paradises,  in  the  shape  of  flower  gardens,  instead  of 
gondolas,  upon  the  bosom  of  its  watery  streets.  But  the  city  has 
been  cruelly  modernized  in  this  particular,  and  there  is  little  of 
that  romance  we  read  of,  justly  belonging  to  it  now.  It 
occupies  only  part  of  the  seat  of  the  ancient  Tenochtitlan —  the 
city  of  the  Montezumas  —  and  instead  of  being  built  on  a  cluster 
of  islands,  is  at  least  two  miles  east  of  the  lake  of  Tezcuco.  The 
valley  or  table  land  on  which  it  is  located,  is  7,500  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea,  and  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  in  circum 
ference.  This  valley  is  surrounded  by  mountains,  ranging  in  height 
from  three  to  nine  thousand  feet.  In  geniality  of  climate,  and 
fertility  of  soil,  it  is  almost  unequalled  in  the  wide  world.  Portions 
of  it  is  covered  with  the  most  luxuriant  herbage,  and  timber  of 
almost  every  size  and  species.  The  cypress  here  reaches  enor 
mous  dimensions,  sometimes  measuring  twenty  feet  in  diameter. 
The  city  has  been  represented  as  being  the  finest  on  the  American 
continent,  and  in  some  respects  certainly  is  so.  It  occupies  a  vast 
area  —  the  walls  by  which  it  is  surrounded,  enclosing  a  square 
about  five  miles  in  extent  either  way.  I  have  seen  as  handsome 
buildings,  and  as  beautiful  trees,  but,  altogether,  the  gently  undu 
lating,  yet  nearly  level  plain,  the  uniformity  in  the  height  of  the 
buildings,  the  long  straight  streets,  crossing  at  right  angles  ;  and 
above  all,  the  magnificent  public  grounds,  artificial  lakes  and  canals, 
I  must  say  that,  in  these  respects,  it  presents  attractions  far  beyoncj 
any  of  the  cities  of  the  United  States.  The  architecture  is  of  the 


90  .       DONNAVAN'S     ADVENTURES 

most  fascinating  style.  The  buildings  generally,  are  constructed 
of  porphyritic  and  basaltic  stone,  from  the  neighboring  mountains, 
rather  roughly  hewn,  and  are  from  two  to  three  stories  in  height, 
with  flat  roofs  and  terraces.  Some  of  the  fronts  are  of  porcelain, 
laid  off  in  large  squares,  in  which  are  painted  pictures  representing 
"  Christ  crucified,"  "  the  ascension,"  the  "  Virgin  of  Guadaloupe," 
&c.  But  as  a  general  thing,  the  fronts  are  of  smooth  stone,  painted 
some  ornamental  color.  The  gates,  balustrades,  and  railing,  are 
of  iron  beautifully  bronzed  —  while  the  fronts  are  adorned  with 
corridors  and  balconies  —  constructed  of  the  same  material,  and 
richly  ornamented  with  fruit  and  flower  trees.  The  floors  of  the 
houses  are  universally  of  tile  or  brick.  The  principal  streets  are 
from  two  to  three  miles  in  length,  somewhat  roughly  paved.  They 
are  not  constructed  on  the  same  plan  of  ours,  with  side  walks  and 
gutters,  but  gradually  descend  from  each  side  to  the  centre,  where 
there  is  a  drain,  covered  by  broad  flag  stones,  which  may  be  re 
moved  at  pleasure.  These  gutters  are  drained  by  a  large  sewer, 
some  twelve  miles  in  length,  cut  through  the  mountains,  and 
emptying  into  the  river  Tula  ;  which  also  serves  to  carry  off  the 
water  when  the  lakes  overflow,  during  the  rainy  season,  and  which 
prevents  inundation  —  the  surface  of  the  water  in  the  lakes  being 
higher  than  the  streets  of  the  city.  This  outlet  also  affords  a 
waste-way  for  the  canal  of  the  lake  of  Chalco,  which  in  part  sup 
plies  the  city  with  water.  After  the  European  style,  each  street 
presents  its  particular  class  of  shops  —  the  jewellers  are  confined 
to  one  street,  the  dry-goods  men  to  another,  grocers  to  still  another, 
&c.,  while  fruits  and  flowers  of  every  variety  and  hue,  are  to  be 
found  in  nearly  all. 

But  the  public  grounds  oi  the  city  constitute  a  great  "attraction. 
They  will  compare  with  those  of  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia, 
and  New  Orleans,  just  about  as  the  "  Eighth  street  space  "  in  the 
"Queen  city  "  will  compare  to  the  "  New  York  Battery."  The  chief 
plaza  in  the  centre  of  the  city,  is  one  of  the  finest  business  squares 
to  be  seen  in  any  city  in  the  world.  It  contains  some  twelve  or 
fifteen  acres,  and  is  beautifully  paved  with  large  hewn  stone.  It  is 
surrounded  by  public  buildings  —  the  cathedral  occupying  the  east 
side,  built  upon  the  spot  where  stood  the  ancient  temple  of  the  sun. 
On  the  west  is  the  bazaar,  and  a  long  row  of  public  offices,  adorned 
with  piazzas  which  project  over  the  side-walk  —  the  national  pal 
ace  on  the  north,  formerly  occupied  by  the  viceroys  of  Spain,, but 
more  recently  by  the  presidents  ;  and  on  the  south  the  public 
market  and  museum.  But  the  rural  retreats  about  the  city  furnish 
a  far  greater  source  of  admiration.  Groves  are  liberally  inter 
spersed,  at  appropriate  distances,  containing  from  fifteen  to  seventy- 
five  acres,  planted  with  every  variety  of  trees,  shrubbery,  and  flow 
ers,  and  in  some  of  which  artificial  lakes  are  seen,  abounding  in 


IN       MEXICO.  91 

gold  fish,  that  wildly  sport  in  their  pure,  native  element.  Among 
these  enclosures,  the  Alamenda,  near  the  western  limits  of  the  city, 
is  the  most  beautiful,  and  whose  gravelled  walks,  odoriferous 
flowers,  and  marble  fountains,  dispel  all  thoughts  of  the  indolent 
and  half-starved  occupants  without.  It  is  a  kind  of  Eden  scene  ; 
and  while  I  gazed  upon  it,  I  did  not  wonder  that  poor,  persecuted 
Eve  should  have  been  tempted,  for  where  every  thing  was  clad  in 
the  rich  profusion  of  beauty,  who  could  think  of  sin  and  misery  ! 
Besides  these,  there  are  numerous  private  gardens,  of  magnificent 
beauty,  handsomely  laid  out,  with  their  flagged  walks,  bordered 
with  hundreds  of  luxuriant  pots  of  flowers  whose  bloom  never  dies. 
The  public  buildings  are  very  numerous,  and  more  than  two 
hundred  spires  proudly  peer  above  the  city.  Perhaps  the  most 
striking  of  all  the  characteristics  of  their  architecture,  are  the 
pyramidal  masses  of  masonry,  far  exceeding  in  height  every  other 
part  of  the  edifice,  between  which  the  portals,  not  only  those  that 
foVm  the  main  entrance,  but  the  passage  between  its  courts,  are 
placed.  In  these  apparently  useless  masses,  the  architect  seems 
to  have  sought  to  imitate  the  hewn  face  of  the  lofty  rocks  in 
which  the  entrance  of  the  excavations  are  usually  formed.  Es 
pecially  is  this  the  case  in  regard  to  the  building  called  the  Pala- 
cio,  but  which  resembles  more  a  penitentiary  than  the  abode  of  a 
sovereign.  It  has  but  three  doors,  opening  on  the  first  floor  —  its 
windows  are  small  and  barbarously  arranged  —  and  altogether,  it 
is  the  most  tasteless  and  ill-shaped  building  in  the  city.  The 
halls  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Deputies,  are  also  on  the  second 
floor  of  this  uncomely  edifice,  besides  the  offices  of  the  ministers 
of  finance,  foreign  relations,  heads  of  departments,  etc.  It  may 
be,  however,  that  the  cathedral,  so  far  eclipsing  this  building  in 
point  of  beauty  and  splendor,  causes  one  to  view  it  with  severer 
criticism  than  he  otherwise  would.  From  the  descriptions  I  had 
read  of  this  cathedral,  and  from  the  magnificence  of  similar  build 
ings  in  the  inferior  cities  of  Mexico,  which  I  had  seen,  I  was  in 
duced  to  form  opinions  of  its  splendor  on  too  extensive  a  scale 
to  be  realized.  In  proportions  only,  it  excels  the  cathedral  at 
Valladolid  —  in  beauty  of  architecture  and  grace,  it  cannot  com 
pare  with  the  latter.  It  occupies  an  area  of  five  hundred  feet  in 
depth,  by  four  hundred  arid  fifty  in  width,  with  a  tower  that  com 
mands  a  view  of  the  entire  city,  and  its  suburbs  for  miles  in  cir 
cumference,  including  the  lakes  of  Tezcueo,  Zumpango,  San 
Christoval,  and  Chalco.  The  walls  are  of  immense  thickness, 
and  constructed  of  solid  stone,  while  the  deep,  tall  windows,  with 
their  finely  painted  glass,  impart  to  it  rather  an  inviting  appear 
ance.  Yet  one's  admiration  scarcely  commences  till  he  has  en 
tered  within  the  walls.  Here  it  is  that  he  is  awed  by  the  enor 
mous  wealth  and  splendor  of  the  interior.  In  richness  of  deco- 


92  DONNAVAN/S   ADVENTURES 

rations,  it  must  surpass  any  similar  edifice  on  the  continent  —  at 
least  any  that  I  have  visited.  The  main  altar,  near  the  centre,  is 
of  polished  marble,  ornamented  with  solid  gold  and  silver,  sur 
mounted  by  numerous  images  manufactured  of  the  same  material, 
and  which,  notwithstanding  the  costliness  of  their  composition, 
have  to  perform  the  menial  service  of  candle-sticks.  Extensive 
lines  of  balustrades  also  surround  the  choir,  and  images  of  golden 
saints  and  angels  are  stuck  against  the  walls  with  a  prodigality 
that  would  induce  the  beholder  to  believe  the  wealth  of  empires 
had  here  been  lavished  to  gratify  the  gods.  Three  costly  images 
of  full  grown  and  handsome  virgins,  clad  in  petticoats  and  short 
aprons,  strung  with  emeralds,  pearls,  and  diamonds,  occupy  con 
spicuous  positions,  where  they  receive  the  addresses  and  adora 
tions  of  the  high  and  the  low,  the  rich  and  the  poor,  notwithstand 
ing  their  countless  wealth  and  aristocratic  attire  — religion  making 
no  distinctions ;  they  are  to  be  approached  by  all. 

Among  the  other  public  buildings  are  the  Hospital,  instituted 
by  Cortez,  immediately  after  the  conquest,  and  which  yet  stands 
an  admirable  monument  to  the  munificence  of  the  great  con 
queror,  the  Franciscan  Convent,  the  Public  Library,  and  the  Mint. 
The  latter  is  the  most  extensive  establishment  of  the  kind  in  the 
world.  It  employs  3000  hands,  and  has  coined  $100,000  in  a 
single  day.  There  are  to  be  found  among  its  superintendents 
several  Yankees,  from  one  of  whom  I  learned  the  interesting 
process  of  coining  gold.  Most  of  the  gold  found  in  Mexico  is 
brought  to  this  mint  to  be  coined,  as  silver  only  is  coined  at  the 
mines  of  Valenciana  (near  Guanajuato,)  and  Zacatecas.  The 
gold  dust  is  usually  melted  into  bullion  before  it  is  brought  to  the 
mint ;  to  find  the  value,  each  parcel  has  to  be  assayed.  The  assay 
ing  is  the  most  curious  and  scientific  business  connected  with  the 
mint.  The  gold  dust  being  cast  into  bars,  the  bars  are  weighed 
accurately,  and  a  piece  cut  off  for  the  assayer,  who  melts  it  with 
double  its  weight  in  silver,  and  three  times  its  weight  in  lead.  It 
is  melted  in  small  cups  made  of  bone  ashes,  which  absorb  all  the 
lead,  while  a  large  portion  of  silver  is  extracted  by  another 
process,  and  the  sample  is  then  rolled  out  to  a  thin  shaving,  placed 
in  a  small  vial,  called  a  rnattrass,  containing  nitric  acid.  The 
mattrasses  are  then  placed  on  a  furnace,  boiled  for  some  time, 
when  the  liquid  is  renewed,  and  the  process  repeated,  till  the  acid 
has  extracted  all  the  silver  and  other  mineral  substance,  leaving 
the  sample  pure  gold.  By  the  difference  in  the  weight  before, 
and  after  assaying,  the  value  is  estimated.  After  this  the  bars 
are  melted,  refined,  and  being  mixed  with  a  due  proportion  of 
alloy,  (equal  portions  of  silver  and  copper,^  they  are  drawn  into 
long  strips,  cut  into  round  pieces  with  a  sort  of  punch,  and  milled,, 
or  the  edge  slightly  raised,  when  they  are  placed  in  a  stamping 


IN       MEXICO.  93 

press,  and  come  forth  perfect  coins.  The  mint  in  the  city,  as  well 
as  other  similar  establishments,  belongs  to  the  government,  to 
which,  altogether,  they  are  a  great  source  of  revenue. 

The  hotels  in  the  city  are  numerous,  and  some  of  them  very 
extensive  and  well-regulated.  I  have  seldom  partaken  of  more 
elegant  or  sumptuous  entertainments  than  at  the  public  house  at 
which  I  there  stopped.  The  table  was  loaded  with  a  profusion 
of  meats,  fruits,  confectionaries,  and  wines.  The  services  of 
china*  were  rich  and  beautiful,  and  the  courses  followed  each 
other  in  succession,  perhaps  to  the  amount  of  ten  or  fifteen  in 
number.  Such  of  the  private  dwelling  houses  as  I  entereH,  which 
were  few,  although  of  splendid  exterior  and  spacious  apartments, 
did  not  seem  to  be  as  well  furnished  as  those  of  the  United  States 
usually  are  in  our  cities. 

There  are  three  theatres  in  the  city,  all  of  which  are  nightly 
thronged.  The  "  Principal/'  which  is  visited  by  the  military  offi 
cers  and  aristocracy  generally,  is  an  edifice  of  some  credit  to  the 
drama,  but  the  other  two,  the  "  Puente  Quebrada,"  and  "  Nuevo 
Mexico,"  are  anything  else.  I  did  not  visit  either,  but  was  in 
formed  that  the  representations  were,  if  any  thing,  in  a  more 
deplorable  state  than  the  buildings.  They  constitute,  however, 
the  chief  source  of  amusement  for  a  certain  class,  as  bull  fights  in 
the  city  have  been  almost  entirely  abandoned. 

The  newspaper  press  of  the  city  might  be  considered  respecta 
ble,  especially  as  compared  with  that  of  other  portions  of  the  re 
public.  In  mechanical  execution,  some  three  or  four  of  their 
journals  many  be  regarded  as  approaching  neatness  and  taste. 
There  were  seven  daily  papers  published  in  May,  and  a  new  one, 
the  <;  El  Sol  Central,"  has  since  been  established.  Their  news 
papers,  however,  do  not  contain  the  same  variety,  nor  are  they 
conducted  with  the  ability  of  ours.  Among  the  first  acts  of  Santa 
Anna,  when  he  resumed  the  power  of  the  government,  was  to 
annul  the  law  restricting  the  liberty  of  the  press  ;  and  although 
nominally  free,  it  was  yet  held  in  check  by  Gomez  Farias  and 
Anaya. 

El  Republicano,  is  the  oldest,  and  perhaps  the  most  influential 
of  the  newspapers,  though  none  of  them  exercise  anything  like 
the  influence  over  society  that  papers  do  in  the  United  States.  Its 
politics  are  not  very  remarkable  for  consistency,  yet  it  has  sustained 
the  war  party  from  the  commencement  with  energy  and  ability. 
It  is  supported  chiefly  by  the  high  functionaries  and  large  propri 
etors,  and  its  principal  aim  seems  to  be  to  uphold  the  existing 
state  of  things.  It  is  the  champion  of  the  present,  cares  little  for 
the  past,  and  less  for  the  future.  Instead  of  rushing  into  plans 
of  reform,  and  theories  of  social  melioration,  it  follows  closely  the 
progress  of  events,  and  shapes  its  course  accordingly.  The  sub 
scription  price  of  El  Republicano  is  $15  a  year. 


94 

Le  Courier  Francais,  printed  in  the  French  language,  is  perhaps 
the  best  newspaper  in  the  city.  The  editor  does  not  indulge  much 
in  the  political  controversies,  and  official  squabbles,  which  eter 
nally  agitate  the  population,  but  devotes  his  sheet  almost  exclu 
sively  to  news  and  literature,  and  has  the  reputation  of  giving  the 
"  earliest  intelligence." 

El  Monitor  is  conducted  with  more  ability  and  independence 
than  any  of  its  contemporaries.  The  editor  is  always  ready  to 
discuss  any  subject,  and  he  writes  with  a  degree  of  freedom  and 
ease,  peculiar  to  himself — yet  he  is  full  of  malice  and  deception, 
and  plays  with  his  phrases  as  a  juggler  does  with  his  balls.  He 
denounces  Santa  Arvna  in  the  most  violent  and  bitter  terms. 

Buletin  de  la  Democracia,  a  new  paper  by  Senor  Jimeney,  and 
the  especial  organ  of  Gomez  Farias,  is  ably  conducted,  and  has 
acquired  some  character  both  for  wit  and  keen  sarcasm,  by  its 
frequent  collisions  with  the  organ  of  the  peace  party. 

El  Razonador,  the  peace  paper,  presents  not  only  profound  and 
unanswerable  arguments,  but  at  times  infuses  in  its  politics  a 
degree  of  railery  and  cutting  criticism,  decidedly  amusing.  It  op 
poses,  and  sometimes  ridicules,  every  project  or  idea  advanced  by 
the  ministry  or  provisional  government,  being  careful  at  all  times 
not  to  assume  a  factious  attitude,  or  render  itself  liable  to  the  re 
strictions  hanging  over  it. 

There  are  other  papers,  the  Diario  Gibierno,  the  Iris  Ispanol, 
&c.,  but  their  characters  are  of  little  interest  or  importance.  The 
sentences  of  the  editor  of  the  former  seem  to  run  out  of  his  pen 
like  thread  unwinding  from  a  spool  —  with  about  as  mnch  care, 
and  perhaps  as  little  effect  on  the  public. 

Their  literature,  like  the  poor  and  unpitied  lazaroni,  who 
swarm  the  streets  in  countless  hordes,  is  in  a  state  of  beggary. 
The  inestimable  advantages  of  education  have  been  extended  to 
an  inconsiderable  portion  of  the  population.  The  great  mass 
have  been  doomed  to  grope,  through  life  in  the  Cimmerian  dark 
ness  of  absolute  ignorance.  Few  books  are  printed —  still  less 
are  read  — as  the  tendency  of  society  is  more  to  sensual  than 
intellectual  enjoyment. 

A  transient  visitor  to  this  great  metropolis  is  certain  to  form  an 
exaggerated  opinion  of  its  morals,  or  rather  its  immorality.  The 
deplorable  ignorance  of  the  population  —  the  loose  opinions  that 
prevail  —  the  infidelity  which  totally  disregards  all  obligations  of 
the  marriage  vow,  naturally  shock  the  feelings  of  those  reared 
under  happier  influences.  There  seem  to  be  no  kindly  and  eleva 
ted  affections  to  preserve  the  young  from  the  contaminations  of 
the  world  into  which  they  are  precipitately  launched,  without  a 
home.  There  is  no  sanctuary  for  virtue  like  a  HOME  —  and  even 
in  our  own  land  of  happy  hearths,  how  many  would  be  lost  in  the 


IN       MEXICO.  95 

hour  of  trial,  but  for  the  thoughts  of  wounding  and  disgracing 
those  they  have  there  learned  to  love.  Most  of  the  Mexicans,  in 
our  sense  of  the  word,  have  no  home.  They  lodge  in  hired 
apartments,  and  spend  their  days  at  the  cafes,  billiard  rooms,  lot 
teries,  and  places  of  public  amusement,  yet  the  criminal  calendar 
is  not  so  dark  as  one  would  be  induced  to  anticipate  from  their 
habits  of  ignorance  and  indolence.  They  are  much  addicted  to 
gambling  and  its  kindred  vices.  We  are  apt  to  imagine  that  they 
have  no  affinity  to  us.  Such  a  conclusion  is  erroneous. 

Man,  from  his  earliest  authentic  history,  and  perhaps  long  be 
fore,  of  whatever  grade,  clirne,  or  color,  has  been  the  instrument 
of  passion.  His  chief  pursuit  is  the  greatest  amount  of  happi 
ness,  employing  every  energy  and  straining  every  nerve  to  reach 
the  fountain  from  whence  he  is  to  be  blissfully  wafted  down  the 
stream  of  time,  or  like  the  drunkard  with  his  bed,  taking  a  longi 
tudinal  position,  and,  quietly  awaiting  the  revolution  of  events, 
which  is  to  bring  him  ease,  and  luxury,  and  repose,  as  the  case 
may  be.  However  we  may  differ  in  habits  and  the  minor  rela 
tions  which  serve  as  teguments  to  bind  up  the  social  compact  — 
the  object,  aim,  and  end  are  the  same.  The  Mexicans  eat,  sleep, 
and  talk,  much  as  we  do,  yet  their  routine  of  duties  and  pleasures 
is  quite  dissimilar.  Indeed,  they  seem  to  have  no  duty  but  that 
of  pleasure,  and  while  the  poorer  classes  seek  it  in  those  hells 
which  abound  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  in  every  city,  the  streets 
and  roads  in  the  vicinity,  at  all  times,  are  thronged  with  the  splen 
did  carriages  of  the  wealthy. 

Among  the  most  pleasant  drives  in  the  vicinity,  are  those  to  the 
village  of  Tacubaya,  the  country  seat  of  the  Presidents,  three 
miles  distant,  and  the  Catholic  burying  ground,  two  miles  beyond 
the  city  gates.  I  visited  the  la-tier,  according  to  my  universal 
practice  in  entering  a  strange  place,  as  I  consider  it  a  matter  of 
some  importance  to  ascertain  the  extent  to  which  grave  yards  are 
patronised.  I  found  it  to  be  a  most  lovely  rural  spot,  though  not 
to  be  compared  to  Mount  Auburn,  or  Greenwood.  Yet  there  is 
something  so  striking  and  peculiar  in  the  construction  of  a  large 
number  of  Catholic  tombs  as  at  once  to  challenge  our  admiration. 
Instead  of  monuments  or  stones,  there  is  erected  over  each  vault, 
a  little  chapel,  some  three  or  four  feet  wide,  six  or  eight  in  length, 
and  five  in  height,  surmounted  by  a  cross.  A  neatly  grated  door 
in  front,  and  a  little  stained-glass  window  in  the  rear,  enables  one 
to  see  the  inscriptions,  busts,  wreaths  of  flowers,  and  other  objects 
within,  which  usually  consist  of  a  chair,  a  prayer-book,  a  crucifix, 
or  small  image  of  the  Virgin,  wax  candles,  and  other  conveniences 
for  their  forms  of  devotion  and  intercession  for  the  departed. 
Emerging  suddenly  from  the  noise  and  bustle  of  the  city  of  the 
living,  and  catching  a  first  view  of  these  little  funeral  temples, 


96  DONNAVAN'S  ADVENTURES 

thickly  strewed  and  dotted  over  the  level  plain,  the  thought  irre 
sistibly  forces  itself  upon  one,  that  he  is  traversing  the  city  of  the 
dead.  Here  are  epitaphs  in  almost  every  language  ;  and  here, 
side  by  side,  friends  and  foes,  and  the  natives  of  far  distant  climes, 
quietly  repose  in  their  last  long  sleep  together. 

As  a  people,  the  citizens  seem  more  to  be  actuated  by  impulse 
than  judgment.  There  are  few  conventional  forms  and  enlightened 
restrictions  observed  in  society  ;  so  that,  whatever  is  said  or  done, 
comes  from  the  heart.  In  their  habits  and  manners,  the  French 
forms  prevail  over  all  others  ;  but  there  is  a  degree  of  unaffected 
politeness  peculiarly  their  own.  The  ladies  are  seen  only  in  the 
streets  in  the  evening,  or  on  holidays,  in  carriages.  Black  is  the 
universal  color  of  the  dress  worn  by  the  Spanish  and  Mexican 
lady,  and  while  among  the  higher  classes  it  is  remarkably  elegant, 
generally  adorns  a  very  perfect  shape,  without  any  of  that  assis 
tance  which  nature  so  often  receives  in  our  own  country.  The 
robe  is  usually  of  black  velvet,  tastefully  worked  and  vandyked. 
The  mantilla,  or  reboso,  is  here  seen  in  its  highest  state  of  perfec 
tion.  It  is  a  kind  of  veil,  of  black  silk  or  lace,  thrown  over  the 
head,  and  leaving  the  face  uncovered,  falls  gracefully  over  the 
neck  and  shoulders,  and  is  confined  at  the  waist  by  the  arms  of 
the  wearer.  Thus  clad  and  standing  in  her  neat,  close-fitting, 
satin  slippers,  with  her  face  at  limes  half-concealed  by  a  gaudily 
pictured  paper  fan,  the  scientific  gyrations  of  which  convey  a  Ian- 
guage  more  eloquent  than  words,  the  Mexican  lady  may  be  seen 
at  almost  any  hour  of  the  day  among  the  bright  flowers  of  her  bal 
cony,  often  enjoying  the  luxury  of  her  sigaretto.  Every  body 
smokes  in  the  city  —  man,  woman,  girl,  and  boy,  almost  down  to 
the  baby  just  escaped  from  the  cradle.  The  men  belonging  to 
the  higher  classes  dress  in  long  Spanish  cloaks,  laced  and  tasselled, 
a  low  crown,  broad  brimmed  white  hat  when  in  the  streets  ;  but 
the  greater  portion  of  the  males  I  saw  were  military  officers  ;  who 
at.  that  time  almost  overrun  the  city,  and  who  were  even  proof 
against  the  appeals  made  by  "  El  Republicano "  to  the  govern 
ment,  suggesting  the  propriety  of  starting  them  out  to  fight  the 
Yankees. 

Upon  the  whole,  the  city  of  Mexico,  with  a  population  of  at  least 
160,000,  presents  a  motley  grouping,  with  no  distinguishing  na 
tional  characteristic,  save,  perhaps,  its  10,000  filthy-looking  water 
carriers,  who  supply  the  city  with  water  from  the  canal ;  and  its 
30,000  leperos,  with  that  awkward  display  of  pride  in  rags,  which 
prompts  them  to  resist  labor  as  an  indignity,  while  they  regard 
alms-taking  or  light-fingering,  as  praiseworthy  accomplishments. 


IN       MEXICO.  97 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

Major  Borland  —  Public  Sentiment  in  the  City  —  Departure  for  Puebla  —  Pass 
at  Rio  Frio  —  Temple  of  the  Sun  —  City  of  Puebla  — •  Manufactories  —  Public 
Buildings—  Cathedral  —  Investment  of  the  City —  Gen.  Worth  —  Disaffection 
among  the  Soldiers  —  Assassinations  —  Perote  —  Jinny  under  Gen.  Scott  —  Ja- 
lapa  —  Battle-ground  of  Cerro  Gordo  —  National  Roaa  and  Bridge  —  Col. 
Sowers  —  Vera  Cruz  —  Castle  of  San  Juan  —  Passage  across  the  Gulf — 
Island  of  Lobos  —  Arrival  in  the  United  States  —  Barry  and  Cunningham. 

DURING  my  brief  sojourn  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  I  had  the  pleasure 
of  meeting  with  Major  Borland,  one  of  the  Encarnacion  prisoners, 
who  was  captured  with  Cassius  M.  Clay,  Major  GaLnes,  and  others, 
and  who  was  then  on  parole,  entitled  to  the  privileges  of  the  city. 
His  was  the  first  familiar  face  I  had  encountered  for  more  than 
seven  months,  although  I  had  received  repeated  manifestations  of 
kindness  among  strangers,  upon  whose  generosity  I  had  no  claim. 
With  Major  Borland  I  had  been  intimately  acquainted  in  1839, 
and  was  employed  at  that  time  in  his  office,  when  he  presided 
over  the  editorial  columns  of  the  "  Western  World  "  newspaper, 
at  Memphis,  Tenn.  To  him  I  am  indebted  for  numerous  courte 
sies,  and  I  doubt  not  that  it  was  through  his  kind  solicitude  in  my 
behalf,  that  a  safe  conveyance  was  provided  for  me  to  Vera  Cruz. 
Through  American  citizens  and  our  Consul,  he  had  acquired  much 
information  in  regard  to  the  condition  of  parties,  and  the  agitated 
state  of  feeling  then  convulsing  the  political  circles  in  the  capital. 

On  the  day  previous  to  my  arrival,  the  legislature  had  cast  the 
vote  of  the  province  for  Angel  Trias  (former  Governor  of  Chihua 
hua)  for  President.  Santa  Anna  had  arrived  from  Puebla,  and 
been  driven  from  the  city  by  the  mob.  The  news  of  Gen.  Worth's 
occupation  of  Puebla,  of  which  he  had  taken  possession  two  days 
before,  had  just  been  received,  and  the  advance  of  the  army  under 
Gen.  Scott,  upon  the  city,  was  confidently  anticipated  ;  though  no 
measure  of  public  defence  had  yet  been  considered,  and  it  was 
asserted  that  there  were  only  five  pieces  of  artillery  there  at  the 
command  of  the  authorities.  The  peace  party,  and  I  believe  a 
majority  of  the  better  citizens,  were  looking  forward  to  the  occu 
pation  of  the  city  by  the  American  forces,  as  their  only  hope  of 
security  against  the  thieving  propensities  of  the  Mexican  soldiery, 
who  infested  it,  without  paying  that  strict  regard  to  the  rights  of 
property  so  desirable  to  the  owners. 

A  number  of  American  citizens,  who  had  been  engaged  in  dif 
ferent  business  pursuits,  together  with  the  American  Consul,  were 
preparing  to  leave  ;  and  availing  myself  of  the  protection  afforded 
by  the  Mexican  authorities  to  this  company,  as  well  as  the  kind 


98  DONNAVAN'S     ADVENTURES 

attentions  of  Mr.  Black,  I  left  with  them  on  the  morning  of  the 
18th  May  for  Puebla,  seventy-six  miles  east  of  the  capital,  on  the 
National  Road. 

After  passing  the  gates  of  the  city,  the  road  for  several  miles  is 
thrown  up  over  the  bed  originally  occupied  by  the  water  of  the 
Lake  of  Tezcuco,  and  which  is  now  only  a  flat  marsh.  For  a 
number  of  years  the  waters  of  the  lake  have  been  gradually  reced 
ing,  and  only  in  ^he  rainy  seasons  is  this  marsh  inundated.  The 
lake  itself  is  ill-shaped  and  shallow,  containing  many  islands,  and 
covered  with  myriads  of  wile1  ducks  and  other  water-fowl ;  the 
delightful  illusion  of  Chinampas,  or  floating  gardens,  having  totally 
vanished. 

The  road  is  a  broad,  smooth,  unobstructed  thoroughfare,  passing 
between  parallel  canals  and  beautiful  rows  of  luxuriant  Lombardy 
poplars.  It  was  not  till  we  had  reached  the  deep  ravine  of  the 
Cordova  Mountain  that  we  passed  beyond  a  view  of  the  towering 
peaks  of  Popocatepetl,  and  Iztaccihuatl,  on  the  south  of  the  city, 
whose  colossal  summits  are  elevated  over  17,000  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea,  and  are  covered  with  perpetual  snow. 

At  a  distance  of  thirty-six  miles  from  the  capital,  we  arrived  at 
the  small  walled  garrison  of  Cordova,  in  the  celebrated  pass  of 
Rio  Frio.  This  pass  is  perhaps  a  mile  and  a  half  in  length,  being 
a  steep,  rugged  descent  through  the  mountain  of  Cordova  to  the 
garrison,  and  at  the  foot  of  which  winds  the  small  stream  of  Rio 
Frio,  or  Cold  River.  The  place  is  inhabited  by  a  suspicious  look 
ing  race  of  beings,  whose  only  occupation  is  to  plunder  and  assas 
sinate.  It  is  situated  about  midway  between  the  cities  of  Puebla 
and  Mexico,  and  is  generally  made  a  point  or  stopping  place  for 
the  night ;  but  our  organs  of  caution  and  love  of  order,  prompted 
us  to  seek  a  shelter  at  a  rancho,  some  five  miles  this  side. 

On  the  following  day  we  passed  through  the  ancient  cjty  of 
Cholula,  whose  ruins  have  so  long  been  an  object  of  interest  to 
antiquarians.  This  city,  before  the  conquest,  is  said  to  have  con 
tained  a  population  nearly  eqaal  to  that  of  Mexico,  but  is  now 
reduced  to  some  5,000.  Here  may  be  seen  the  remains  of  the 
temple  of  the  sun,  so  sacred  to  the  early  inhabitants.  It  is  a 
huge  pyramid,  1400  feet  square,  and  203  feet  in  height.  Its 
base  would,  perhaps,  cover  Washington  square  in  New  York, 
while  its  summit  would  rise  above  the  pinnacles  of  the  Univer 
sity.  It  is  surrounded  by  many  smaller  pyramids,  which  are  said 
to  have  been  devoted  to  the  worship  of  the  stars. 

On  the  evening  of  the  second  day  after  our  departure,  we 
arrived  safely  in  the  city  of  Puebla,  decidedly  the  most  American 
looking  town  in  all  Mexico.  It  contains  a  population  of  80,000, 
with  broad  elegantly  paved  streets,  and  handsome  stone  buildings. 
The  streets  are  much  more  cleanly  than  those  of  the  city  of  Mex- 


IN       MEXICO.  ^  99 

ico,  and  are  built  up  more  densely,  presenting  none  of  the  ragged 
suburbs  which  so  detract  from  the  beauty  of  many  of  the  cities  in 
that  country.      There  is  also  a  greater  degree  of  industry  among 
the  inhabitants,  who  wear  better  clothes,  and  a  more  civilized  ap 
pearance  than  most  of  their  neighbors,  although  entitled  to  less 
confidence.     It  is  the  only  city  in  Mexico  where  cotton  fabrics 
are  manufactured  to  any   extent  ;  being  located  on  a  branch  of 
the  Nasca  river,  affording  abundant  water  privileges.     The  num 
ber  of  churches  and  convents   is   almost  innumerable,   and  the 
priests  constitute  about  half  the  population,  all  of  whom  are  un 
scrupulous  in  their  denunciations  of  Santa  Anna,  for  having  taken 
the  liberty  to  appropriate  to  his  own  use  a  large  portion  of  their 
golden  church  ornaments,  on  his  precipitous  retreat  from  the  city. 
Puebla  is  the  capital  of  the  province  of  the  same  name,  and  is  a 
purely  Spanish  town,  having  been  built  since  the  conquest.  Among 
its  most  conspicuous  public  buildings  are  the  Governor's  palace, 
and  the  great  Cathedral,  the  latter  of  which  is  represented  to  be 
the  richest  in  the  world.    Whether  this  be  true  or  not,  it  would  be 
a  task  to  undertake  to  compute  the  wealth  treasured  up  within  its 
walls.     The  building,  like  all  the  churches  there,  is  of  the  Gothic 
style.     In  looking  at  these  splendid  edifices,  what  most  astonishes 
an   American  is   the   beautiful   and  substantial  masonry  by  which 
the  parts  are  firmly  knit  together.     The  material  used  in  the  con 
struction  of  this  cathedral  is  different    from  that  of  any  other  — 
being  a  species  of  pale  blue  stone,  hewn  in  heavy  blocks,  supported 
by  huge  pillars,  which  terminate  in  towers  filled  with  bells.  These 
towers  are  differently  shaped,  uniformity  seeming  to  be  by  no  means 
essential  to  good  looks.       But  on  entering,  one   is  apt   to  be  in 
spired  with  feelings  of  awe   at   seeing  so  much  splendor,  and  so 
many  things   the   purposes  of  which  he  is  unable  to  divine,  and 
which  can  be  regarded  only  as  the  relics  of  a  by-gone   age — the 
images  of  virgins,  dressed  in  rich  embroidered  satin,  with   strings 
of  pearls  and   diamonds  dangling  down   about  their  knees,  and 
crowns  of  gold,  inlaid  with  emeralds,  around  their  brows.      But 
the  eye  is  only  arrested  by  their  brilliancy,  and  confused  by  the  mul 
tiplicity  of  these  figures  ;  and  we  are  led   to  contrast   the  strange 
encounter  of  splendor  and  misery  by  which  we  are  surrounded — 
the  massive  marble  altars,  surmounted  by  gold  and  silver  candela- 
bras,  occupied  by  the  numerous  priesthood,  and  the  niches   filled 
with  statues  of  golden  saints,  while  the  people  stand,  kneel,  or  use 
hired  chairs  from  persons  in  attendance,  and  look  as  if  even  their 
hopes  of  heaven  were  not  their  own.      In   the  interior  of  this  im 
mense  edifice,  is  another  species  of  ornament  which  commands 
attention.     It  is  the  profusion  of  carving  in  wood,  which  is  to  be 
seen  about  the  choir  in  the  greatest  perfection.     A  large  figure  of 
St.  Peter  is  represented  in  this  style  most  admirably.      Depending 


100  DONNAVAN'S     ADVENTURES 

from  the  centre  of  the  great  dome,  is  a  gigantic  chandelier  of  solid 
gold  and  silver,  exceeding  ten  tons  in  weight,  and  for  merely  clean 
ing  which,  the  •'*  lamp-lighter  "  charges  the  round  sum  of  $4,000. 
A  strange  tradition,  representing  the  Angels  to  have  assisted  in 
the  erection  of  this  building,  at  night,  imparts  to  it  a  degree  of 
veneration,  to  which,  perhaps,  no  other  in  the  world  has  ever  set 
up  a  claim,  and  which  has  given  to  the  city  the  name  of  "  Puebla 
de  los  Angelas" 

On  the  14th  of  May,  six  days  previous  to  our  arrival,  Gen.  Worth, 
with  about  6,000  men,  had  taken  possession  of  the  city  without 
firing  a  gun,  though  there  had  been  repeated  assassinations  by  the 
Mexicans  after  the  army  had  taken  up  its  quarters  within  the  walls, 
and  great  dissatisfaction  prevailed  among  the  Americans,  on  ac 
count  of  the  lenity  which  was  extended  to  the  perpetrators.  In 
point  of  personal  appearance  and  military  capacity,  Gen.  Worth 
is  esteemed  among  the  first  officers  of  our  army.  He  is  indeed  a 
noble  looking  specimen  of  the  Anglo-Saxon.  But  he  failed  to  re 
concile  his  men  to  a  policy  subjecting  them  to  severe  punishment 
for  offences  which,  committed  by  their  enemies,  would  have  been 
"winked  at."  There  were  open  and  repeated  murmurings  among 
our  soldiery,  who  were  compelled  to  lie  in  the  open  air  at  night, 
without  tents,  while  they  might,  by  the  right  of  conquest,  have 
occupied  at  least  the  public  buildings  of  the  city.  Besides,  some 
of  them  were  stabbed,  or  poisoned,  almost  daily,  with  impunity; 
and  it  became  a  by-word  in  the  army,  that  a  Mexican  was  re 
warded  for  what  an  American  would  be  punished. 

In  company  with  a  train  under  Capt.  Varney,  I  left  Puebla  on 
the  23d  of  May,  for  Vera  Cruz.  At  Perote  we  met  the  army 
under  Gen.  Scott,  to  whom  I  communicated  briefly  my  own  ad 
ventures,  and  gave  him  a  statement  in  regard  to  Mr.  Cunningham, 
whom  I  had  left  confined  at  Valladolid. 

The  town  of  Perote  is  a  small  place,  some  distance  from  the 
castle  of  the  same  name.  The  sight  of  this  castle  brought  forci 
bly  to  mind  the  sufferings  endured  for  years  by  many  of  our  coun 
trymen,  who,  like  myself,  had  been  within  the  power  of  a  cruel 
and  unfeeling  people,  and  was  therefore  an  object  of  interest  and 
curiosity.  I  had  always  been  accustomed  to  associate  with  my 
ideas  of  this  place,  a  towering  castle  on  a  high  hill,  but  was  quite 
disappointed.  It  is  situated  upon  a  broad,  sandy  plain,  several 
miles  in  extent,  covered  with  the  wreck  of  volcanic  matter.  The 
castle  is  of  stone,  strongly  built,  and  commanding  the  country  for 
miles  around.  The  main  entrance  is  through  a  high  wall,  which 
is  succeeded  by  a  deep  ditch,  then  another  wall,  then  the  castle, 
mounting  a  large  number  of  guns  of  every  size.  The  enclosure 
is  over  an  acre  in  extent,  and  surrounded  by  two-story  buildings, 
the  upper  rooms  of  which  had 'been  occupied  by  officers  of  the 


IN       MEXICO.  101 

Mexican  army,  and  the  lower  ones  used  as  barracks.  In  the 
lower  part  of  the  castle  are  the  prison  cells,  which  look  far  more 
gloomy  and  uninviting  than  did  the  Valladolid  printing  office,  and 
afforded  me  the  consolation  of  realizing  the  fact  that  I  had  not 
been  an  inhabitant  of  the  worst  place  on  the  top  of  the  earth  — 
for  men  are  apt  to  reason  by  comparison.  No  defence  was  made 
by  the  enemy  at  Perote,  notwithstanding  the  strength  of  the 
place,  and  the  army  under  Gen.  Scott  were  enjoying  peaceable 
possession  of  the  fortress,  and  preparing  to  take  up  the  line  of 
march  for  Puebla,  on  the  25th  of  May. 

Between  Perote  and  Jalapa,  we  passed  a  splendid  hacienda, 
said  to  belong  to  Santa  Anna,  situated  a  short  distance  from,  but 
within  plain  view  of  the  road.  The  estate  is  a  very  extensive 
one,  delightfully  situated,  and  is  said  to  have  been  at  one  time  a 
favorite  retreat  of  the  dictator. 

The  distance  from  Perote  to  Jalapa  is  thirty-three  miles.  After 
passing  over  five  miles  of  smooth  road,  handsomely  paved  or 
flagged,  we  reached  this  picturesque  city  on  the  evening  of  the 
24th.  Jalapa  is  justly  celebrated  for  the  beauty  of  its  women, 
and  its  profusion  of  fruits  and  flowers.  It  is  located  on  the  back 
bone  of  a  ridge,  receding  to  the  east  and  west,  and  so  steep  and 
tortuous  are  the  streets,  that  a  carriage  can  only  pass  along  the 
main  road.  The  houses  are  built  of  stone,  and  are  of  the  most 
tasteful  architecture  —  the  only  public  building  of  importance  is 
the  convent  of  San  Francisco,  from  the  tower  of  which  is  a  splen 
did  view  of  the  city  of  Vera  Cruz  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  sixty- 
six  miles  distant.  It  contains  12,000  inhabitants,  and  is  among 
the  most  pleasant,  healthy,  and  beautiful  cities  in  Mexico.  After 
the  battle  of  Cerro  Gordo,  the  authorities  received  the  victorious 
conquerors  in  a  most  hospitable  manner. 

From  the  village  of  Las  Viegas,  a  few  miles  east  from  Perote, 
to  Vera  Cruz,  the  road  descends  more  than  ^,000  feet.  Leaving 
Jalapa  early  in  the  morning,  and  after  alternately  climbing  over 
hills  and  sinking  into  ravines,  we  soon  came  upon  the  battle-ground 
of  Cerro  Gordo.  situated  nearly  midway  between  that  city  and 
the  National  Bridge.  The  scene  of  this  great  triumph  of  Amer 
ican  arms  is  a  sort  of  double  ridge,  on  the  summit  of  the  west 
ern  elevation  of  which  the  enemy  was  fortified.  So  that  to  make 
a  successful  attack,  our  army  had  first  to  rush  down  a  precipice, 
then  climb  to  the  brow  of  a  succeeding  one,  .in  the  very  mouth  of 
the  cannon  of  tiie  enemy.  The  history  of  this  fierce  and  desper 
ate  conflict,  and  the  amusing  manner  in  which  Santa  Anna  de 
camped,  leaving  his  carriage,  preserved  meats,  and  flavored  Ha- 
vanas,  like  Joseph's,  at  Vittoria,  to  the  spoil  of  the  victors,  is  well 
known  to  the  country  ;  yet  the  unspeakable  horrors  which  sur- 
ro  unded  the  scene  even  a  month  after  the  engagement,  can  scarcely 
9 


102  DONNAVAN'S     ADVENTURES 

be  conceived.  The  gorge  of  the  ravine  was  clogged  up  with  the 
half-naked  bones  of  the  dead  bodies  of  the  flower  of  the  Mexi 
can  army,  over  which  black  clouds  of  buzzards  were  hovering, 
eager  for  the  banquet.  The  enemy  had  DO  time  to  halt  to  per 
form  the  last  sad  duty  for  their  fallen  comrades,  and  while  some 
were  left  as  food  for  the  vulture,  others  who  had  been  so  wounded 
as  to  be  unable  to  escape,  had  been  taken  to  the  hospitals,  where 
their  agonizing  groans  fell  upon  the  ear  like  low,  hollow  sounds 
from  the  charnel-house.  The  Mexican  cannot  face  danger  and 
meet  death  like  the  Yankee.  He  may  possess  that  impetuosity 
which  is  sufficient  only  to  impel  him  to  a  single  and  desperate 
charge,  but  he  has  not  the  lasting  courage  to  meet  the  fatigues 
and  dangers  of  a  tedious  conflict,  where  men  are  required  to  over 
come  natural  obstacles,  and  rush  onward  while  death  is  raining 
among  their  ranks.  And  even  after  the  excitement  of  the  battle, 
when  the  blood  becomes  cool,  and  the  energies  relaxed  —  a  time 
when  the  sick  and  wounded  are  expected  to  murmur  and  com 
plain —  while  the  American  bears  his  sufferings  with  a  manly  for 
titude,  the  poor  Mexican,  in  his  misery,  will  be  found  raving  like 
a  maniac. 

The  Puente  Nacional,  or  National  Bridge,  across  the  Antigua 
river,  some  thirty  miles  from  Vera  Cruz,  is  a  massive  work  of 
stone.  This  was  once  a  strong  fortification,  the  ruins  of  which 
may  yet  be  seen  on  the  adjoining  hills.  About  two  miles  on  the 
other  side  of  the  bridge  we  saw  the  broken  diligence  of  Col. 
Sowers,  who  was  killed  with  seven  of  his  escort,  by  a  guerrilla 
party,  on  the  day  previous  to  our  passing  the  bridge.  Col.  Sow 
ers  was  bearer  of  despatches  from  Washington  to  Gen.  Scott. 

The  National  road,  leading  from  Vera  Cruz  to  the  city  of  Mex 
ico,  is  a  thoroughfare  which  would  be  creditable  to  the  enterprise 
of  any  country  ;  it  is  broad,  in  places  well  graded,  and  McAdam- 
ized.  Passing  through  Santa  Fe,  a  small  village  on  a  stream 
about  ten  miles  from  Vera  Cruz,  we  arrived  at  the  latter  place 
early  in  the  evening  of  May  26.  The  train  with  which  I  came 
from  Puebla  consisted  of  fifty-six  men. 

As  no  vessel  was  to  leave  Vera  Cruz  for  some  days,  I  awaited 
the  arrival  of  the  James  L.  Day,  Capt.  Wood.  The  vomito  was 
raging  among  several  companies  of  volunteers.  The  war-worn 
veterans  from  Illinois  were  there,  straggling  back  in  squads  from 
Cerro  Gordo,  and  they  presented  a  most  sad  appearance.  They 
looked  like  any  thing  else  than  "  revellers  in  the  halls  of  the  Mon- 
tezumas,"  and  worn  down  by  sickness  and  fatigue,  were  the  mere 
shadows  of  men.  Among  their  trophies,  was  a  splendid  brass 
six-pounder,  to  be  sent  to  the  State  of  Illinois  as  a  present  in 
token  of  the  gallantry  of  her  sons. 

Vera  Cruz  extends  more  than  two  miles  along  the  sandy  coast 


IN     MEXICO.  103 

of  the  Gulf.  It  was  once  the  greatest  commercial  city  on  the 
American  continent,  but  is  now  left  far  in  tjie  rear  of  many  rivals, 
having  declined  since  the  revolution  with  Spain.  Its  streets  are 
well  paved,  and  seemed  quite  cleanly.  The  walls  of  the  city  are 
constructed  of  coral  rock,  and  are  very  thick,  with  a  fort  at  each 
extremity  of  the  water  front,  where  parapet  guns  have  been  placed. 
The  city  contains  a  population  of  8,000,  and  is  supplied  with 
water  from  cisterns.  The  Governor's  Palace  in  Vera  Cruz  is  a 
fine  public  building,  but  the  plaza  on  which  it  is  situated  is  the 
most  diminutive  I  saw  in  any  of  the  towns  of  Mexico.  The  city 
presented  a  sad  and  ragged  picture,  a  large  number  of  the  build 
ings  having  been  demolished  during  the  bombardment.  The  dis 
tance  from  Vera  Cruz  to  Mexico  is  280  miles. 

The  castle  of  San  Juan  de  Ulloa  is  built  on  an  island  of  rock, 
more  than  half  a  mile  from  the  shore,  fronting  the  city.  The 
depth  of  the  water  between  the  island  and  the  shore  is  many 
fathoms,  so  that  vessels  lie  there  in  perfect  safety.  Boats  are  con 
tinually  passing  and  repassing  between  the  island  and  the  shore. 
The  castle  occupies  the  entire  island,  forming  an  enclosure  of 
about  twelve  acres,  almost  square.  Massive  walls  of  masonry 
compose  the  outer  works,  which  are  so  high  that  inclined  planes 
are  constructed  within,  so  as  to  facilitate  the  ascent  of  oxen  with 
their  heavy  ordnance.  There  are,  within  this  enclosure,  more  than 
twenty  fortresses,  each  independent  of  the  other,  and  elevated 
above  the  outer  wall.  These  fortresses  are  mounted  with  batter 
ies,  and  arranged  so  as  not  to  interfere  with  each  other  when  em 
ployed  in  the  defence  of  the  castle.  The  basements  are  occupied 
as  stores,  and  in  time  of  peace  a  lively  trade  is  carried  on.  Thus 
the  appearance  of  a  small  walled  city  is  imparted  to  the  interior,, 
with  its  paved  sidewalks,  and  stores.  Should  the  enemy  gain  the 
outer  wall,  these  store  rooms  can  be  converted  into  batteries,  by, 
letting  the  guns  down  from  above.  Within  the  walls  there  ara 
cisterns,  sufficiently  commodious  to  contain  a  year's  supply  of 
water,  besides  wells  for  the  powder  magazines,  where  that  artiele 
is  placed  beyond  the  reach  of  bombs.  The  castle  is  said  to  have 
cost  forty  thousand  dollars,  and  when  built  by  Spain,  was  consid 
ered  impregnable. 

On  the  morning  of  June  3d,  comfortably  situated  on  the  James 
L.  Day,  we  pushed  out  into  the  Gulf,  leaving  the  numerous  spires 
of  Vera  Cruz  to  fade  away  in  the  horizon  —  and  on  the  succeed 
ing  morning,  upon  going  on  deck,  I  found  the  "  Day  "  anchored 
off  the  fairy-like  island  of  Lobos,  where  she  had  been  driven  in 
the  night  by  a  slight  gale.  This  island,  about  two  miles  in  cir 
cumference,  ten  from  the  shore,  and  one  hundred  and  forty  miles 
from  Vera  Cruz,  is  formed  entirely  of  coral,  studded  with  banyan 
trees,  and  vines  of  luxuriant  growth,  covered  with  flowers>of  the 


104 

most  mellifluous  odors.  Taking  an  easterly  direction  from  Lobos, 
the  vessel  arrived  at  New  Orleans  on  the  10th  of  June,  where 
after  an  absence  of  fourteen  months,  and  after  travelling  sixteen 
hundred  miles  through  the  interior  of  Mexico,  I  again  found  my 
self  free,  and  on  my  native  shores,  quite  satisfied  with  what  I  had 
seen  of  the  elephant. 

I  here  learned  that  my  friend  Dr.  Barry,  with  the  Zacatecan 
prisoners,  had  made  his  escape  from  Acapulco  —  that  he  had 
arrived  in  New  Orleans  some  two  months  before  me,  where  by 
letter  he  communicated  to  my  friends  the  first  information  they 
received  of  our  fate.  It  is  presumed  that  Mr.  Cunningham  is 
yet  where  I  left  him,  in  Valladolid,  amusing  himself  with  the 
Spanish  type,  and  the  fair  Policarpa ;  at  least  I  have  had  no  in 
telligence  from  him,  since  the  memorable  night  of  my  unceremo 
nious  elopement. 

It  may  be  thought  strange  that  I  did  not  attempt  to  facilitate 
•his  escape,  at  the  time  of  my  own  departure.  But  the  reader 
must  recollect  that  I  have  already  stated  the  fact  of  our  occupy 
ing  separate  rooms,  and  in  such  an  adventure  I  might  myself  have 
been  detected.  Besides,  it  was  a  question  in  mind,  whether  he 
would  be  willing  to  resign  his  dear  senorita,  for  nothing  so  domes 
ticates  a  man  as  love. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

Mexico  —  Extent  of  Territory  —  Soil  —  Climate  —  Maguey  Plant  —  Cochineal 
—  Vanilla  —  Cotton  and  Sugar  —  Potatoes  —  Chili  —  Timber  —  Water  — 
Tobacco  —  Commerce —  Conquest  —  Revolution  —  Independence  —  Influence 
and  Wealth  of  the  Priesthood  —  Santa  Anna  —  Gen.  Almonte  —  Gomez  Farias 
— Gen.  Herrera  —  Senor  Jlleman  —  Education  —  The  War  —  Manner  of  Con 
ducting  it  —  Destiny. 

THE  Republic  of  Mexico  is  composed  of  twenty  provinces,  or 
states  —  Tamaulipas,  New  Leon,  Coahuila,  Chihuahua,  Sonora 
and  Sinaloa,  Durango,  Jalisco,  Aguescalientes,  Zacatecas,  San  Luis 
Potosi,  Queretaro,  Guanajuato,  Mechoacan,  Colima,  Mexico,  Pue- 
bla,  Vera  Cruz,  Oajaca,  Tobasco,  and  Chiapas.  Besides  these 
might  be  included  the  dependencies  of  New  Mexico  and  Califor 
nia.  In  extent  of  territory,  they  may  be  compared  to  the  states  of 
our  union,  yet  they  are  generally  larger  ;  the  whole  extending  from 
latitude  16  to  33  1-2,  and  forming  a  line  of  coast  on  the  Pacific 
and  Gulf  of  California,  3000  miles  in  length,  bounded  on  the  east 
and  north  by  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  the  Rio  Grande.  The  dis 
tance  from  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  to  those  of  the  Pacific  varies 


IN       MEXICO.  105 

from  1000  to  1200  miles,  including  an  area  of  some  1,600,000 
square  miles,  and  a  population,  according  to  their  own  estimate,  of 
twelve  millions. 

During  his  involuntary  tour  through  the  country,  the  author 
visited  twelve  of  these  provinces  —  Tamaulipas,  New  Leon,  Coa- 
huila,  Zacatecas,  Aguescalientes,  San  Luis  Potosi,  Guanajuato, 
Mechoacan,  Q,ueretaro,  Mexico,  Puebla,  and  Vera  Cruz,  situated 
in  the  very  heart,  and  richest  region  of  the  republic,  and  present 
ing  every  variety  of  surface,  soil,  and  climate.  The  two  great 
chains  of  the  Cordillera  mountains,  the  Sierra  Madre  and  Sierre 
Santa,  being  a  continuation  of  the  Andes  of  South  America, 
diverging  from  the  isthmus,  stretch  across  the  country  near  its 
eastern  and  western  borders,  the  former  gradually  diminishing  in 
the  hills  of  Coahuila,  while  the  latter  continues  and  cofmects  it 
self  with  the  Rocky  Mountains  of  Oregon.  Between  these  two 
great  ranges,  is  included  what  is  termed  the  table  lands  of  Mexi 
co,  at  an  elevation  of  from  4000  to  8000  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  sea.  These  table  lands  comprise  over  three-fifths  of  the  whole 
territory,  and  although  varying  in  altitude,  frequently  stretch  out 
in  broad  plains  and  prairies,  unsurpassed  in  fertility  of  soil. 

There  has  been  so  much  said  and  written  in  regard  to  the  cli 
mate  of  Mexico,  that  little  can  be  added  which  will  not  assume 
the  appearance  of  repetition.  Yet  those  who  have  been  beneath 
its  sunny  skies  and  inhaled  its  balmy  atmosphere,  receive  impres 
sions  differing  immaterially  in  the  abstract,  and  degrees  of  admi 
ration  ;  while  few  can  repress  a  disposition  to  record  the  emotions 
to  which  any  warm  and  genial  clime  intuitively  gives  birth. 

In  the  construction  of  their  dwellings,  such  an  appendage  as  a 
chimney,  or  fire-place,  is  not  thought  of,  and  the  very  necessary 
and  essential  domestic  duty  of  cooking  is  performed  oat  of  doors, 
in  the  yard  or  streets.  In  the  streets  of  all  the  cities,  the  eye 
meets  the  daily  spectacle  of  the  poorer,  houseless  and  homeless 
part  of  the  population,  cooking  their  scanty  fare,  on  small  furna 
ces  erected  for  the  purpose.  This,  more  than  anything  else,  will 
serve  to  explain  the  nature  of  the  temperature. 

The  climate  seems  to  be  influenced  more  by  altitude  than  lati 
tude,  the  three  grand  divisions  of  elevation  above  the  level  of  the 
sea,  presenting  in  all  parts  of  the  country  about  the  same  degree 
of  temperature,  and  producing  the  same  species  of  vegetation. 
Between  Vera  Cruz  and  Perote,  a  distance  of  one  hundred  miles, 
almost  the  same  variety  and  gradation  of  climate  will  be  observed 
as  in  travelling  from  the  equator  to  the  arctic  circle,  that  is,  if  one 
have  the  curiosity  to  ascend  to  the  snowy  peak  of  Oriziba,  near 
the  latter  place,  the  summit  of  which  is  covered  with  perpetual 
snow. 

Tierras  Calientes  includes  the  low  lands  on  the  coast,  where 


106  DONNAVAN'S     ADVENTURES 

the  climate  is  excessively  hot,  and  adapted  to  the  production  of 
sugar,  coffee,  indigo,  cotton,  rice,  cocoa,  cochineal,  oranges,  ban 
anas,  olives,  and  every  variety  of  tropical  fruits.  To  the  decom 
position  of  the  rank  vegetable  substances  of  this  region  is  attrib 
uted  the  cause  of  the  epidemic  called  vomitOj  so  fatal  to  the 
health  and  life  of  both  natives  and  visitors. 

Tierras  Templadas  includes  the  vast  table  lands,  in  which  the 
climate  seldom  varies  more  than  ten  degrees  during  the  entire 
round  of  the  seasons,  and  where  one  eternal  spring  reigns  unbro 
ken.  In  less  elevated  portions  of  this  region,  most  of  the  tropical 
fruits  are  produced,  though  it  is  better  adapted  to  such  growths  as 
corn,  maguey,  tobacco,  chili,  peaches,  cherries,  melons,  strawber 
ries,  &c.  Three  and  four  crops  of  corn  are  here  produced  in 
one  year,  and  as  a  consequence,  it  is  cultivated  to  a  greater  extent 
than  any  other  grain,  affording  the  chief  article  of  food  for  the 
population.  Green  corn  is  to  be  seen  as  well  in  December,  Janu 
ary,  and  February,  as  in  June,  July  and  August. 

Tierras  Frias  is  the  still  higher  region,  or  mountain  slopes,  and 
subject  to  greater  variations  of  temperature.  Wheat,  rye,  oats, 
barley,  potatoes,  &c.,  constitute  the  chief  productions  of  this  di 
vision,  which  is  usually  covered  with  large  oak  and  pine  timber,  as 
high  as  twelve  thousand  feel  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 

Among  the  most  remarkable  productions  of  Mexico,  with  which 
we  are  unfamiliar  in  the  United  States,  may  be  mentioned  the 
maguey  plant  and  cochineal.  The  maguey  is  produced  in  every 
degree  of  temperature,  and  is  uninjured  by  heat,  cold,  or  drought. 
In  the  best  soil,  it  grows  to  an  enormous  size,  from  twenty  to 
thirty  feet  high,  and  will  often  measure  around  the  trunk  as  much 
as  three  feet  in  circumference.  It  generally  arrives  to  maturity  in 
five  years,  in  the  tierras  calientes,  but  in  the  tierras  frias  it  sel 
dom  ripens  short  of  twenty  years.  After  flowering,  the  top  is  cut 
off,  the  soft  substance  or  pulp  removed  from  the  interior,  so  as  to 
form  a  kind  of  bowl,  in  which  daily  accumulates  some  two  gallons 
of  mucilaginous  acid,  during  a  period  of  five  or  six  months.  Upon 
fermentation,  this  becomes  what  is  termed  by  the  natives  pulque, 
and  which,  by  a  process  of  distillation,  is  made  into  whisky.  The 
population  in  many  districts,  where  there  is  no  water,  use  this 
only,  as  a  beverage.  At  first,  it  has  a  most  disgusting  taste,  and 
still  worse  smell,  but  one  will  soon  become  accustomed  to  it.  From 
the  fibrous  substance  contained  in  the  bark  and  leaves  of  the  ma 
guey,  paper,  ropes,  and  even  clothing  are  sometimes  manufactured. 
The  root  when  properly  prepared,  is  a  most  palatable  and  nutri 
tious  diet ;  while  the  thorns  of  its  leaves  serve  as  pins  for  the 
ladies'  garments.  The  maguey  is  regarded  as  the  most  profitable 
growth  in  the  country  ;  and  where  alone  cultivated,  on  extensive 
haciendas,  often  yields  a  yearly  income  to  the  proprietors  of  fifty 
thousand  dollars. 


IN      MEXICO.  107 

Cochineal  is  a  production  of  the  nopal,  a  plant  of  the  cactus 
species,  which  is  cultivated  in  rows,  like  Indian  corn.  On  every 
leaf  of  the  nopal  is  pinned  a  short  piece  of  hollow  cane,  in  which 
a  number  of  the  insects  are  confined,  where,  as  they  multiply,  the 
young  ones  crawl  out  and  take  up  a  permanent  residence  on  the 
leaf  of  their  nativity,  upon  which  they  feed.  At  the  close  of  the 
dry  season,  these  insects  are  brushed  from  the  dead  leaves,  and 
dried.  The  cochineal  is  an  insect  little  larger  than  a  common 
tick,  and  in  early  times  was  supposed  to  be  the  seed  of  the  plant 
— it  is  used  in  dyeing  silks,  for  which  the  female  is  alone  valuable, 
and  is  in  some  of  the  provinces  of  Mexico  extensively  raised  for 
exportation.  Vanilla,  which  is  used  in  the  manufacture  of  choco 
late,  and  various  luxuries,  grows  spontaneously. 

The  table  lands  of  Mexico  will  produce  almost  every  species  of 
vegetation,  in  a  higher  state  of  perfection  and  greater  abundance 
than  any  other  portion  of  the  North  American  continent ;  yet  se 
duced  by  the  great  wealth  of  her  mineral  resources,  the  population 
bestow  little  attention  upon  agriculture.  Cotton  and  sugar  will, 
doubtless,  at  some  future  day,  form  the  staple  productions  of  these 
lands,  which,  with  the  exception  of  an  occasional  sandy  desert, 
under  proper  cultivation,  might  be  made  to  yield  abundant  har 
vests.  As  yet,  neither  of  these  articles  have  been  grown  to  a  suf 
ficient  extent  to  supply  the  home  demand  —  the  cotton  crop 
never  exceeding  90,000  bales.  The  low  lands  are  well  adapted 
to  the  production  of  rice,  and  if  ever  cultivated  extensively,  will 
perhaps  be  appropriated  to  that  purpose. 

What  is  usually  called  the  Irish  potatoe,  is  a  native  of  Mexico, 
and  was  first  found  there  after  the  discovery  of  America.  It  has 
a  prolific  yield,  but  the  varieties  are  not  so  numerous  as  in  this 
country,  where  attention  has  been  given  to  its  improvement  and 
culture. 

Chili,  the  small  red  pepper,  grows  spontaneously,  and  is  also 
cultivated  as  an  indispensable  article  of  diet.  An  almost  incon 
ceivable  amount  of  it  is  consumed  by  the  inhabitants,  who  devour 
the  pods  by  the  dozen,  in  their  primitive  state,  besides  using  it 
in  nearly  every  dish  they  eat. 

In  most  regions  the  timber  is  of  a  low,  shaggy  growth,  though 
groves  of  pine,  cedar,  cypress,  and  oak,  are  often  to  be  found  grow 
ing  as  large  as  in  any  country.  Such  a  spectacle  as  a  rail  fence 
never  meets  the  eye  —  the  inclosures  all  being  made  of  hedge,  for 
which  most  of  the  stunted,  thorny  growth,  and  maguey,  seems  pur 
posely  adapted,  the  contrast  between  the  long  lines  of  deep  tangled 
shrubbery  and  vines,  decked  with  wild  flowers,  and  the  dull,  lifeless- 
looking  rail  fences  of  the  United  States,  deeply  impresses  one  with 
admiration  for  the  former. 

1  was  not  prepared  to  find  water  so  plentiful  as  it  really  is,  from 


108  DONNAVAN'S    ADVENTURES 

the  accounts  I  had  previously  read  of  the  country  ;  and  in  only  one 
instance,  during  our  entire  journey,  did  I  suffer  from  thirst. 
This  was  in  a  sandy  desert  in  Coahuila,  where  we  found  no  water 
in  three  days'  travel.  Rain  seldom  falls  in  Mexico  except  in  July, 
August,  and  September  ;  these  months  are  called  the  rainy  season, 
during  which  time  a  large  amount  of  water  fa-lls  in  showers,  or 
steady  rains,  of  almost  daily  occurrence.  As  a  consequence,  arti 
ficial  irrigation  becomes  necessary,  but  there  are  few  districts  of  any 
considerable  extent  which  could  not,  by  the  construction  of  simple 
hydraulic  works,  be  sufficiently  supplied  with  water,  the  only  ma 
nure  required,  to  produce  at  least  one  hundred  and  fifty  bushels  of 
corn  to  the  single  acre,  annually. 

Tobacco  is  produced  in  large  quantities,  in  many  of  the  provinces, 
but  this  is  a  government  monopoly,  the  leaf,  when  cured  and  baled, 
being  purchased  of  the  growers  at  a  price  fixed  by  the  government. 
It  is  collected  in  warehouses  in  the  different  districts,  and  conveyed 
to  the  capital,  where  a  segar  manufactory,  sufficiently  extensive  to 
supply  that  article  to  the  whole  population,  is  carried  on  under  the 
supervision  of  the  government. 

Notwithstanding  the  immense  wealth  of  the  country,  its  com 
merce  is  limited  and  diminutive.  Its  chief  exports  are  confined  to 
the  precious  metals,  furnished  from  some  twenty  or  thirty  mining 
districts,  and  which  have  produced  annually  from  $20,000,000  to 
$25,000.000  in  gold  and  silver.  An  inconsiderable  trade  has  been 
carried  on  in  the  article  of  cochineal,  indigo,  logwood,  jalap,  and 
vanilla,  but  including  all,  the  annual  exports  have  never  risen  above 
$20,000,000,  while  the  imports  have  never  exceeded  $  15,000,000. 
Owing  to  the  vascillating  character  of  the  government,  and  the  in 
ordinate  thirst  for  gold,  which  has  always  characterized  its  officers 
and  people,  and  which  still  exists,  an  immense  contraband  trade, 
so  fatal  to  legitimate  commerce,  is  kept  up,  under  every  change  of 
rulers.  Large  amounts  of  bullion  from  Zacatecas  and  other  mining 
districts,  are  smuggled  out  of  ports  on  the  Pacific,  while  various 
articles  of  merchandise  from  foreign  countries  are  received  with 
unblushing  impunity,  through  the  bribery  and  the  infidelity  of  cus 
tom-house  officers,  whose  ideas  of  "  tariff"  and  "  free  trade  "  are 
of  such  convenience  as  generally  to  conform  to  their  own  interests. 

The  precise  amount  of  the  population  of  Mexico  is  difficult  to 
determine.  At  present  the  inhabitants  estimate  it  at  from  ten  to 
twelve  millions,  though  no  census  has  been  taken  for  a  number  of 
years.  The  population  is  made  up  of  almost  every  color.  The 
pale  face  maintains  its  aristocracy  among  all,  although  the  negroes 
are  allowed  to  vote.  Few  of  the  male  population  are  to  be  found 
without  the  tinge  of  a  fair  mulatto,  though  his  blood  be  pure,  which 
is  attributed  to  the  influence  of  the  climate  and  atmosphere.  The 
ladies  of  pure  blood  are  often  very  nearly  as  fair  as  our  own.  The 


IN      MEXICO.  109 

white  population  is  not  numerous,  and  will  not  amount  to  over  one 
million  in  the  whole  country.  Descending  one  degree  below  the 
white  is  the  Mestizoe,  made  up  of  a  great  variety,  white,  Indian, 
and  negro.  Of  this  class  there  is  over  three  millions.  Next  is  the 
Zamboo,  a  progeny  of  the  Indian  and  negro,  which  class,  with  the 
Indians,  negroes,  and  quarteroons,  make  up  the  balance  of  the  pop 
ulation.  Of  the  negro  race  there  is  not  over  one  hundred  thousand, 
while  the  Indians,  who  are  often  the  best  citizens  of  the  country, 
number  five  millions.  The  difference  in  the  dialects  of  the  people 
in  the  different  provinces,  is  about  the  same  as  that  in  the  shires  of 
England  —  and  it  is  sometimes  with  difficulty  that  they  can  under 
stand  each  other. 

It  has  been  no  part  of  the  author's  object  to  enter  into  the  early 
history  of  Mexico.  To  those  who  desire  such  a  work,  reliable  in 
fact  and  detail,  he  would  recommend  that  of  the  great  historian, 
Preseott.  The  early  conquest  of  Mexico  by  Cortez  is  a  dreamy 
story  even  of  school-boy  days.  The  city  of  golden  idols,  hu 
man  hecatombs,  a  populous  empire,  and  the  overthrow  of  the  un 
fortunate  Montezuma,  has  often  risen  up  to  our  vision  like  the 
incredible  and  enchanted  scenes  of  the  Arabian  Knights.  The 
country  was  "then  inhabited  by  the  aborigines,  who  had  so  far  ad 
vanced  in  civilization  as  to  build  a  greater  and  more  splendid  city 
than  now  occupies  its  place  —  the  work  of  their  conquerors.  In 
1521,  when  Spain  in  her  turn,  enjoyed  her  proud  supererogative  of 
power,  the  banners  of  her  cross  floated  in  triumph  from  the  heathen 
temples  of  the  natives,  who,  knowing  nothing  better  or  sublimer 
to  adore,  worshipped  the  sun,  as  their  more  enlightened  but  heart 
less  invaders  did  the  living  God.  For  three  hundred  years  her 
power  thus  attained,  was  acknowledged  and  respected  in  the  colony 
by  a  people,  who,  accustomed  only  to  the  tyranny  of  rulers,  and 
living  in  an  enervating  climate  —  occupying  a  country  whose 
wealth  was  beyond  computation  —  were  lured  into  ease  and  luxury 
—  who,  with  no  impetus  to  stimulate  their  energies,  and  mingling 
promiscuously  with  the  aborigines,  gradually  retrograded  in  the 
scale  of  intelligence,  till  they  began  more  to  represent  the  natives 
they  had  vanquished,  than  the  conquerors  from  whom  they  were 
descended.  That  there  were  exceptions  —  men  who  thought  and 
felt  that  their  country  was  retrograding,  rather  than  advancing  with 
the  spirit  of  the  age  and  times,  is  doubtless  true —  but  they  were 
allied  more  to  the  slavery  of  the  church,  than  to  civil  liberty.  Stim 
ulated  by  some  motive,  for  the  purity  of  which  his  own  soul  is 
perhaps  responsible,  in  1810,  the  slight  murmurs  of  insurrection 
which  were  kindling  to  a  flame,  burst  into  open  revolt  through 
Don  Minguel  Hidalgo,  a  Catholic  priest  of  Dolores  ;  who,  at  the 
head  of  a  large  army,  raised  under  the  standard  of  the  "  Virgin  of 
Guadaloupe,"  commenced  the  work  which  finally  resulted  in  eman- 


110  DONNAVAN'S     ADVENTURES 

cipating  his  country  from  the  thraldom  of  Spanish  rule.  He  met 
the  fate  which  all  the  pioneers  in  a  great  cause  are  almost  certain 
to  encounter.  After  a  short  career,  in  which  his  success  was  bril 
liant,  he  was  betrayed  and  beheaded.  Other  Generals  arose  in  his 
place,  among  whom  may  be  mentioned  Morelos,  Guerrero,  Victoria, 
and  Matamoras,  and  for  a  period  of  nearly  three  years  a  fierce  and 
sanguinary  war  pervaded  the  whole  land.  But  from  1813  to 
1820,  peculiar  circumstances  operated  to  retard  the  progress  of  the 
country  towards  independence,  to  lengthen  out  their  struggle  with 
Spain,  and  to  produce  opposite  parties,  divisions  in  sentiment,  chi 
merical  or  false  principled  notions,  and  even  the  horrors  of  civil 
war  itself. 

The  vast  territory  was,  and  is  even  yet,  thinly  inhabited,  by  a 
population  confined  principally  to  the  towns  and  cities,  then  divided 
into  capitanias,  or  viceroyalties,  having  little  or  no  mutual  com 
munication,  or  means  of  concerting  combined  resistance  to  Spain. 
The  people  themselves,  as  a  body,  being  deplorably  ignorant,  and 
divided  into  numerous  castes,  all  of  whom  opposed  each  other, 
either  from  feeling  or  interest,  could  not  unite  in  a  common  cause. 
Yet  they  had  all  contracted  a  habit  of  obeying  Spanish  princes  : 
for  no  where  had  the  maxim  of  passive  obedience  and  the  divine 
right  of' kings  been  so  earnestly  inculcated  by  all  the  power  of  the 
priesthood.  Second  only  to  the  clergy,  in  means  of  influence, 
were  the  Castilians,  or  European  Spaniards,  whose  power  and 
riches  were,  of  course,  actively  engaged  in  sustaining  the  author 
ity  of  Spain  ;  and  by  engrossing  all  the  important  offices,  they 
deprived  the  Creoles,  or  those  of  Mexican  birth,  of  any  opportunity 
for  obtaining  the  required  qualifications  for  public  employments. 
Such  are  the  gradual  encroachments  of  tyranny,  tamely  submitted 
to,  that  were  it  unrestricted  by  a  mightier  power,  would  steal  away 
both  body  and  soul.  Besides,  Mexico  had  so  long  enjoyed  a  pro 
found  peace,  that  its  inhabitants  possessed  little  more  military 
knowledge  than  did  the  Aztec  race,  whom  their  ancestors  had  de 
throned.  They  were  even  destitute  of  arms  and  munitions  of  war  ; 
all  these  being  in  the  arsenals  of  the  government,  or  in  the  hands 
of  the  small  body  of  troops,  which  it  maintained  in  convenient 
stations  upon  the  sea-coast.  Owing  to  these  unfortunate  circum 
stances  in  their  condition,  they  had  the  whole  structure  of  inde 
pendence  to  begin  from  its  very  foundation.  Those  who  are 
familiar  with  the  history  of  the  revolution  in  Mexico,  and  in  the 
several  governments  of  South  America,  will  readily  call  to  mind 
the  untoward  events  produced  by  the  circumstances  here  adverted 
to.  Yet  in  the  dark  hours  of  their  adversity,  the  free  world  did 
not  fail  to  sympathize  with  them,  and  numbers  of  our  own  country 
men  left  their  homes  and  firesides  to  join  them  in  their  struggle 
for  independence.  In  fact,  perhaps  no  other  circumstance  exer- 


IN       MEXICO.  Ill 

cised  so  powerful  an  influence  to  prompt  the  thinking  and  well 
informed  inhabitants  of  Mexico  to  long  for  liberty,  as  the  example 
of  the  United  States  of  North  America.  It  was  truly  a  most  bril 
liant  and  alluring  spectacle,  that  of  a  new  people  rending  asunder 
the  strong  ties  that  had  bound  them  to  England,  and  who  had 
rendered  themselves  independent  —  who,  organized  as  a  great  re 
public,  enjoyed  the  most  perfect  liberty  which  man  can  possess  in 
the  social  state  —  who,  under  wise  and  beneficent  institutions,had 
prospered  and  augmented  with  astonishing  rapidity  —  who,  in  fine, 
were  Americans,  more  recently  settled  on  the  continent  than  those 
who  held  the  soil  in  Mexico,  and  who  seemed  destined  to  the  same 
high  career  with  their  brethren  of  the  North,  could  they  but  estab 
lish  their  independence  of  Spain.  It  was  impossible  that  these 
ideas  should  not  spread  with  celerity  among  intelligent  Mexicans, 
and  that  they  should  not  prepare  the  elements  of  a  wide  confla 
gration. 

After  a  struggle  of  eleven  years,  through  the  disorganization  of 
the  mother  country  itself,  Mexico  became  independent  —  inde 
pendent  of  Spain,  yet  their  emancipation  brought  with  it  little  else 
than  confusion  and  anarchy.  The  want  of  intelligence,  of  popu 
lation,  of  resources,  made  several  provinces  mere  dead  limbs  for  a 
union,  even  had  one  been  contemplated  ;  and  a  Central  govern 
ment,  entitled«the  "  Plan  of  Iguala,"  was  adopted  ;  and  through 
dissensions  among  the  demagogical  leaders  of  factions,  Iturbide, 
by  his  own  intrigues,  sustained  by  the  influence  of  the  church,  as 
cended  the  throne.  He  had  not  long  worn  his  "  royal  robes," 
however,  till  in  his  turn  he  was  compelled  not  only  to  abdicate  his 
place,  but  was  banished  from  his  country,  and  finally  executed  on 
his  return  in  1824.  In  the  same  year,  what  is  called  the  federal 
constitution  was  adopted,  modelled  principally  from  that  of  the 
United  States,  excluding  the  provision  which  recognizes  the  right 
of  trial  by  jury,  and  establishing  a  provision  recognizing  the  Cath 
olic  as  the  only  religion  of  the  country.  It  entitles  all  citizens  of 
whatever  grade  or  color,  to  the  right  of  suffrage — yet  this  is  a 
mere  formality  — a  mockery  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  mass,  where 
the  church  wields  the  supreme  power.  The  priesthood  of  Mexico, 
including  the  monks  and  nuns,  amounts  to  about  ten  thousand 
persons,  and  the  combined  wealth  of  the  clergy  is  estimated  at 
$200,000,000.  No  chapel  dedicated  to  any  other  faith  is  to  be 
found  or  suffered  to  exist  in  the  country,  and  the  Catholic  priest 
hood  have  unlimited  control  of  both  soul  and  body.  Owning  more 
than  half  of  the  property  and  wealth  of  the  country,  they  are  of 
course  entitled  to  the  exercise  of  the  privilege  entailed  upon  their 
possessions,  of  giving  to  the  people  their  manners  and  morals ;  and 
to  their  examples  in  the  cities,  may  be  justly  attributed  many  of 
the  vices  which  prevail  among  their  ignorant  followers.  To  repeat 


112  DONNAVAN'S    ADVENTURES 

here  the  profligate  indulgences  attributed  to  the  city  priesthood, 
would  be  too  great  an  infringement  upon  all  rules  of  modesty ; 
yet  their  licentiousness  is  no  more  a  secret  there,  than  the  open 
and  unblushing  manner  in  which  they  visit  the  degraded  haunts 
of  gaming  houses,  cafes,  and  other  resorts  of  infamy,  to  sanction 
their  corruptions  and  participate  in  their  amusements. 

It  is  proper  here  to  remark,  that  the  curas  or  country  clergy, 
sustain  quite  the  opposite  character  from  their  city  brethren  ;  and 
besides  being  pious  and  devotional  in  their  habits,  exercise  a  kind 
of  monitorial  supervision  over  those  placed  under  their  pastoral 
charge,  and  who  regard  them  with  a  high  degree  of  veneration  — 
asking  and  following  their  advice  in  all  things.  Indeed,  the  con 
duct  of  many  of  the  curas  is  characterized  by  a  degree  of  gene 
rosity  and  kindness  to  the  poor,  worthy  to  be  imitated  in  our  own 
enlightened  land. 

It  is  a  great  mistake  in  those  who  have  propagated  the  idea, 
that  the  clergy  of  the  city  of  Mexico  court  the  approach  of  the 
American  army  as  a  means  of  security  to  their  church  treasures. 
If  there  is  anything  sacred  in  the  eyes  of  a  Mexican,  (a  problem 
which  has  not  yet  been  satisfactorily  solved,.)  be  he  ranchero, 
brigand,  or  lepero,Jit  is  his  religion  and  the  property  of  his  church. 
Whatever  may  have  been  the  revolutions  —  whatever  may  be  — 
the  church  has  been,  aud  will  continue  to  be,  sa^fe  from  direct 
spoliation. 

We  may  talk  as  we  please  of  Mexico,  and  sticklers  entertaining 
circumscribed  views,  may  deplore  as  they  will  her  loss  of  inde 
pendence  and  nationality  —  yet  what  is  that  independence,  what 
that  nationality  ?  The  only  independence  studied  is,  how  to  live 
independent  of  labor,  while  their  nationality  is  in  the  hands  of 
demagogues,  entertaining  no  sympathy  for  the  ignorant  mass,  and 
who  would  sell  their  country,  rather  than  submit  to  innovations 
recognizing  an  equality  of  rights.  In  looking  upon  the  Mexican  race 
as  it  now  exists,  knowing  nothing  of  it,  one  would  be  tempted  to 
ask,  by  what  accident  of  birth  or  circumstance  they  exhibit  so  gro 
tesque  a  character  in  so  serious  a  drama  —  at'first  contending  for 
empire  and  honor,  then  for  independence  and  nationality  !  This 
apparent  inconsistency  is  all  explained,  however,  upon  acquiring  a 
knowledge  of  their  condition.  Their  government,  as  it  has  ever 
been,  since  the  date  of  the  revolution,  is  without  energy — without 
stability  — destitute  of  moral  honesty  and  mteans.  Party  spirit, 
unlike  the  cool  and  calculating  collisions  of  sentiment  which  often 
agitate  our  own  body  politic,  divides  her  citizens  —  discord  waves 
her  incendiary  torch  —  anarchy  and  confusion  exist  among  them 
selves,  and  their  soldiery  are  left  unprovided  and  uncared  for  ;  as 
the  church,  being  the  treasury,  can  make  no  disbursements  till  it 
ascertains  which  is  the  stronger  and  most  likely  to  succeed  of  the 


IN      MEXICO.  113 

factions.  The  monster,  party  spirit,  so  rocked  and  cherished  in 
the  cradle  of  their  revolution,  is  now  grown  to  full  manhood,  and 
convulses  all  who  are  at  all  susceptible  to  such  influences  ;  and  the 
invasion  of  their  territory,  which  should  bring  out  all  the  patriotic 
energies  of  man,  has  best  convinced  the  world  of  their  weakness, 
egotism,  cowardice,  and  truculence,  according  to  the  various 
changes  of  the  scenes. 

Santa  Anna  has  long  been  the  ruling  spirit  of  the  land,  and 
with  all  his  cruelty  and  pomposity,  possesses  a  stronger  intellect 
and  a  more  perfect  knowledge  of  the  nature  and  disposition  of  his 
people,  than  any  man  in  Mexico.  His  prominent  trait  of  charac 
ter  has  seemed  to  be  to  create  expectations  which  he  never  intend 
ed  to  fulfil ;  but  possessing  the  tact  to  turn  every  thing  to  his  ad 
vantage  in  the  end,  has  been  the  secret  of  his  success.  He  is 
known  to  be  a  deceiver;  yet  he  knows  how  to  deceive.  And 
where  there  is  a  total  lack  of  confidence  in  all,  the  choice  among 
rogues  generally  devolves  upon  the  most  accomplished  among 
them. 

Gen.  Almonte,  who  was  arrested  and  confined  in  prison  last 
May,  in  his  own  country,  on  a  pretended  charge  of  having  com 
promised  his  position,  by  making  certain  disclosures  and  overtures 
to  the  United  States,  is  the  first,  in  point  of  ability,  and  perhaps 
the  only  honest  public  man  in  Mexico.  Almonte  has  spent  much 
of  his  life  in  the  United  States,  and  was  long  the  Minister  of 
Mexico  to  our  government  at  Washington.  He  is  the  illicit,  son 
of  Morelos,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  the  revolutionary 
Generals,  who  fell  in  the  defence  of  his  country.  His  intellect  is 
highly  cultivated,  and  he  possesses  all  the  qualities  of  a  polished 
gentleman. 

Gomez  Farias,  the  scenes  of  whose  life  and  career  have  been 
chequered  with  events  much  after  the  fashion  of  Santa  Anna,  is 
a  man  of  deep  thought.  The  cause  of  his  being  superceded  by 
Anaya,  as  Provisional  President,  was  owing  to  his  proposition  to 
tax  the  church  property.  Had  he  been  sustained  in  making  his 
proposed  levies,  the  Mexican  government  would  have  presented  a 
more  vigorous  resistance  at  Vera  Cruz  —  a  more  numerous  and 
better  provided  army  at  Buena  Vista  —  a  more  effective  plan  and 
a  more  vigorous  defence  at  Cerro  Gordo  —  and  altogether  a  far 
more  serious  resistance  than  has  attended  the  overthrow  of  Farias 
and  his  plans. 

Gen.  Herrera,  recently  a  prominent  candidate  for  the  Presi 
dency,  is  a  great  favorite  of  the  church  party,  and  in  the  absence 
of  Santa  Anna,  would  doubtless  exercise  a  controlling  influence. 
During  the  canvass,. he  was  represented  as  the  peace  candidate, 
but  would  in  the  event  of  his  elevation  be  subject  to  the  control 
of  the  clergy. 


114  DONNAVAN'S    ADVENTURES 

Senor  Aleman  is  among  the  most  influential  men  in  the  country, 
especially  among  the  priesthood,  over  which  he  exercises  almost 
absolute  control.  Reports  were  currently  circulated,  that  Aleman, 
in  behalf  of  the  church,  had  op'ened  a  correspondence  with  the 
European  powers,  in  regard  to  forming  an  alliance,  by  which  some 
prince  from  the  other  side  of  the  water,  was  to  be  elevated  to  the 
throne  of  Mexico.  Reports  and  surmises  of  this  character,  are 
often  the  creations  of  political  speculators  ;  though  this  was  suffi 
ciently  plausible  to  receive  general  credence,  and  seemed  to  sur 
prise  no  one  in  Mexico. 

Generals  Ampudia,  Arista,  Ricon,  Bravo,  &c.,  are  men  of  cred 
itable  capacities,  but  possess  none  of  those  prominent  traits  of  char 
acter  calculated  to  distinguish  them,  with  all  their  opportunities. 

Generals  Sallus,  Valencia,  Requina,  and  a  host  of  others,  con 
stitute  the  third  class  of  the  "  great  men  "  of  the  republic,  and 
who  have  perhaps  never  imbibed  an  idea  beyond  their  individual 
preferment  and  egotistical  self-conceit. 

It  should  not  be  supposed  that  among  the  private  circles  of  so 
ciety  in  Mexico,  there  are  no  men  of  cultivated  manners,  refined 
taste,  and  profound  intellect.  This  would  be  an  anomaly  indeed, 
in  a  population  of  at  least  10,000,000.  As  profound  scholars,as 
accomplished  gentlemen,  and  as  hospitable  hearts,  may  here  be 
found,  as  in  almost  any  quarter  of  the  globe ;  yet  their  number  is 
comparatively  limited,  and  out  of  the  entire  population,  perhaps 
not  one  hundred  thousand,  or  one  of  every  one  hundred,  can 
read.  Here  lies  the  great  secret  of  their  misfortunes.  And  it  is 
not  an  uncommon  spectacle  in  all  the  cities,  to  see  among  the 
multitudes  who  crowd  the  streets,  confidential  scribes,  supplied 
with  a  stool  and  writing  apparatus,  whose  business  it  is  to  indite 
letters  to  order  for  the  ignorant  population,  who  keep  them  profit 
ably  employed.  There  are  no  schools  for  the  mass ! 

Under  such  a  state  of  things  what  apparent  folly  it  seems  to  be, 
among  our  tenacious  politicians  of  any  party,  to  grieve  about  the 
dismemberment  of  a  neighboring  republic  !  However  the  war 
may  terminate,  God  has  doubtless  designed  it  for  the  accomplish 
ment  of  his  own  high  purposes.  If  any  part  of  those  purposes  be 
to  open  a  new  era  upon  this  China  of  the  new  world,  it  is  already 
accomplished  in  embryo.  That  philanthropy  which  would  pre 
scribe  the  blessings  of  enlightened  liberty  to  certain  limits,  deserves 
not  the  name  ;  and  there  is  a  narrow  selfishness  far  behind  the 
age,  in  the  policy  which  would  justify  us  in  the  tame  enjoyment 
of  the  freest  government  on  earth,  while  our  nearest  neighbors  are 
sunk  in  the  very  depths  of  ignorance  and  vice  —  not  even  per 
mitted  to  choose  a  God  to  worship  !  That  the  war  has  cost 
treasures,  perils,  and  lives,  no  one  will  deny  —  yet  it  will  produce 
new  treasures,  happiness,  and  new  life  ! 


IN    MEXICO.  1  15 

The  justness  or  the  injustice  of  the  war  is  a  fit  subject  for  pol 
iticians  to  quarrel  about,  and  may  be  decided  by  those  whose 
knowledge  of  international  law  will  qualify  them  to  render  a  satis 
factory  verdict ;  though  the  propriety  of  arguing  the  question,  and 
openly  advocating  the  cause  of  the  enemy  during  the  existence  of 
hostilities,  may  be  doubted. 

The  expediency  of  such  a  course  of  conduct  is  certainly  ques 
tionable  ;  for  an  enemy  who  knows  nothing  of  our  institutions, 
and  who  very  naturally  judges  the  dispositions  of  men  and 
governments  by  comparisons  at  home,  arrives  at  the  very  plau 
sible  conclusion,  that  serious  dissensions  exist ;  and  but  for  this 
simple  fact,  there  is  little  doubt  that  the  war,  so  much  regretted 
by  these  very  men,  would  now  have  been  terminated.  Like  most 
foreigners,  they  misconceive  the  nature  of  our  institutions.  They 
are  not  aware  that  our  internal  battles  consist  only  of  a  "  war  of 
words,"  and  that  an  American  editor  or  representative  may  give 
free  utterance  to  his  individual  views,  while  reason  and  the  fiat  of 
an  intelligent  constituency  are  left  free  to  combat  and  correct  them. 
Very  different  is  the  state  of  things  in  Mexico  ;  while  dissensions 
really  exist  among  her  people,  nothing  is  to  be  heard  but  vapor, 
boast,  aud  fume,  and  to  read  their  manifestos,  the  natural  conclu 
sion  would  be  that  they  are  the  most  warlike  and  unconquerable 
people  under  heaven.  Those  who  really  favor  peace,  and  in  truth 
a  large  portion  of  the  better  class  would  rejoice  in  the  occupation 
of  the  country  by  our  people — seldom  give  audible  utterance  to 
their  sentiments  —  fearing  that  they  might  be  reasoned  with  in  a 
rather  summary  manner.  Hence,  those  ignorant  of  the  facts, 
conclude  that  there  is  no  peace  party  in  Mexico,  and  that  the  voice 
of  all  is  for  open  war.  Their  papers  and  proclamations  are  filled 
with  predictions  of  future  victories,  to  the  utter  exclusion  of  present 
defeats,  and  while  they  seem,  with  one  accord  and  one  heart,  to 
proclaim  their  own  invincible  determination  never  to  surrender, 
they  seldom  face  their  adversaries,  and  never  without  disastrous 
defeat. 

To  one  who  has  been  over  the  battle-grounds,  traversed  the  in 
terior  country,  suffered  with  the  many  who  have  suffered,  and 
become  familiar  with  all  the  important  circumstances  of  the 
present  war,  the  manner  in  which  it  has  been  conducted  presents 
itself  without  a  single  mark  of  sagacity.  It  would  seem  that  it 
had  been  prolonged  for  no  visible  object,  except  to  create  patron 
age  for  partisans ;  though  for  the  credit  of  humanity  such  a  mo 
tive  should  not  be  attributed  to  its  prosecutors.  It  is  much  easier 
to  prophesy  after  we  have  been  apprised  of  events  which  are  to 
transpire,  and  one  can  look  back  upon  his  errors  with  far  greater 
facility  than  he  can  distinguish  and  avoid  them  in  the  future. 
But  the  policy  of  sending  two  small  armies  into  the  wild  regions 


1 16  DONNAVAN'S    ADVENTURES 

of  New  Mexico  and  the  Rio  Grande,  without  a  sufficient  force  to 
retain  possession  of  the  country  after  it  was  conquered,  and  for 
the  apparent  object  of  affording  only  an  opportunity  for  brilliant 
exploits,  in  conquering  a  half-barbarous  race,  and  then  leaving 
them  to  resume  their  power  and  places,  is  totally  inexplicable, 
both  before  and  after  its  adoption. 

When  hostilities  first  commenced,  the  true  wisdom  of  legisla 
tion  would  have  suggested  the  raising  of  fifty  thousand  volunteers, 
who  were  then  offering  their  services  to  the  government  in  count 
less  regiments ;  all  of  whom  could  have  been  landed  at  Vera 
Cruz  in  October,  (1846.)  Such  an  army,  levying  contributions 
on  the  country  for  its  support,  might  have  marched  at  once  to  the 
capital,  and  subdued  the  country  at  half  the  cost,  both  in  blood 
and  treasure.  Instead  of  such  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war 
to  a  speedy  termination,  a  sort  of  tampering  policy  has  been  pur 
sued,  and  our  forces  have  moved  with  a  degree  of  tardiness,  in 
ducing  one  to  forget  that  Napoleon  had  so  recently  instructed  the 
world  in  the  art  of  warfare.  These  halting,  timid,  undetermined 
movements,  inspire  the  enemy  with  renewed  confidence ;  and 
after  a  continued  conflict  of  nearly  twenty  months  —  sufficient 
time  for  us  to  have  whipped  all  Europe  — Mexico  bids  fair  to  ex 
hibit  one  of  those  horrible  catastrophes  which  stand  out  boldly 
and  distinctly  in  the  annals  of  human  calamity.  The  agitaied  con 
dition  of  the  country  since  1810,  has  bred  her  public  men  in  the 
school  of  turmoil,  and  they  have  learned  to  look  upon  scenes  of 
blood  with  comparative  complacency.  With  their  last  hopes 
staked,  they  may  not  be  deterred  by  any  consideration  of  social 
consequences ;  and  with  an  object  akin  to  that  of  the  desperado, 
they  would  cheerfully  blow  up  the  strongholds  of  our  army  as 
they  enter,  and  involve  in  one  common  ruin  the  conquerors  and 
'  the  conquered. 

There  is  much  speculation  in  regard  to  the  result  of  the  present 
war,  and  notwithstanding  little  doubt  hangs  over  the  final  issue, 
the  proclamation  of  a  guerrilla  warfare,  giving  authority  to  every 
score  of  ruffians  to  concert  their  own  plans,  make  their  own 
attacks,  and  murder  without  regard  to  age,  sex,  or  condition,  may 
prolong  it  to  an  almost  indefinite  period,  unless  a  new  degree  of 
energy  shall  be  infused  into  the  American  forces. 

But  it  requires  no  extraordinary  gift  of  prophecy  to  foretell  the 
consequences  that  are  inevitably  to  result  —  they  can  be  none 
other  than  the  subjugation  of  the  country.  Mexico  is  already  by 
the  hand  of  fate  blotted  out  of  the  list  ok  nations.  The  lamp 
which  lit  up  the  brief  hour  of  her  independence  is  burnt  down  to 
the  socket ;  and  whether  "  annexed  "  to  this  Union  or  not,  torn 
and  divided  by  intestine  commotions,  she  can  never  withstand 
the  shock  which  will  not  only  depose  her  military  despots,  but 


IN      MEXICO.  „  117 

arouse  her  people  from  the  Rip  Van  Winkle  slumber  of  their  ig 
norance.  He  who  thinks  that  a  lasting  and  beneficial  peace  can 
be  made  with  that  country,  knows  little  of  Mexico,  or  of  her  peo 
ple —  he  starts  in  his  belief  from  false  premises  —  and  judges  of 
a  race  by  the  ordinary  rules  which  govern  mankind  —  when  it  is 
notorious  that  they  have  ceased  to  regard  all  such  rules,  and  have 
hurled  at  them  utter  defiance. 

The  growing  greatness  and  energy  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race, 
which  is  destined  speedily  to  overrun  the  whole  of  North  Ameri 
ca,  will  soon  occcupy  the  vast  tierre  tempalades  of  Mexico.  And 
they  will  carry  liberty  with  them  —  not  in  name,  but  in  fact  — 
and  the  influence  of  their  example  will  impart  a  tone  of  vigor  to 
the  efforts  even  of  the  humblest  individual.  They  will  give  con 
fidence  to  thought,  and  energy  to  action.  This  is  by  no  means  a 
visionary  speculation,  but  will  be  realized,  as  in  the  natural  course 
of  events  things  assume  the  shape  of  realities  ;  and  before  ten 
years  shall  transpire,  steam  cars,  which  would  be  regarded  by  the 
present  population  with  as  much  wonder  as  was  the  thundering 
artillery  of  Cortez  by  the  natives,  will  take  the  place  of  their  car 
avans  of  pack-mules  ;  and  "  Yankee  clock  pedlars,"  instead  of 
guerrilla  bands,  will  throng  the  mountain  paths  of  the  Cordilleras. 
Our  people  will  have  seen  its  resources,  and  there  can  be  no  re 
straint  placed  upon  their  enterprise. 

Under  the  control  of  the  United  States,  or  the  Anglo-Saxon, 
and  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  liberty  and  security,  its  extended 
plains,  which  now  repose  in  peace,  would  stretch  out  before  the 
eye  like  gardens  magnified  immeasurably.  The  loneliness  of  the 
vast  forest,  consecrated  for  ages  to  solitude  and  God,  would  echo 
the  voices  of  new  and  more  ardent  admirers  of  their  never-dying 
foliage.  Its  cities  would  swarm  with  active  arid  industrious  New 
England  mechanics,  the  music  of  whose  implements  would  wake 
the  slumbering  energies  even  of  the  dull  and  plethoric  peon.  A 
canal,  connecting  the  two  great  oceans,  would  stretch  across  the 
isthmus  of  Tehuantepec,  concentrating  within  the  Northern  hem 
isphere  the  commerce  of  the  globe.  Through  the  huge  and 
rugged  mountains,  that  rise  up  like  stepping-stones  to  heaven, 
railroad  cars  would  roll  with  the  lightning's  speed,  the  rich  treas 
ures  of  the  land  to  the  lap  of  trade.  And  as  the  soul  of  the 
sunny  clime  became  steeped  in  sublime  thought,  which  the  bound 
less  and  magnified  variety  of  its  natural  scenery  is  fitted  to  call 
into  being  —  when  the  heart  is  entirely  imbued  with  the  influence 
of  republican  institutions,  and  when  the  mind  of  this  land,  springing 
from  its  new  myriad  sources,  shall  grow  up  from  its  present  night 
of  infancy  to  manhood,  glowing  with  an  ardent  perception  of  the 
unrivalled  beauties  of  the  clime,  it  will  burn  on,  bright  and  un- 
wasting,  forever ! 
10 


'..'!;  if.  J* 

APPENDIX, 


ALL  people,  whatever  their  condition,  seem  to  require  amusement  and 
recreation  of  some  kind,  and  it  is  too  often  the  case,  in  the  selection  of 
subjects  to  gratify  this  natural  desire,  that  the  passions,  more  than  the  under 
standing,  are  appealed  to.  Especially  in  our  own  land  of  self-government, 
where  pleasure  and  public  virtue  are  commensurate  with  cultivated  taste 
and  intelligence,  should  we  seek  to  combine  instruction  with  amusement,  in 
our  public  entertainments.  And  few  will  undertake  to  dispute  the  salutary 
influence  exercised   by  a  familiarity  with  meritorious  works  of  art,  in 
chastening  the  understanding  and  purifying  the  sentiment.     No  system  of 
education  is  commendable  that  does  not  combine  the  development  of  cor 
rect  taste  —  that  does  not  impart  a  just  conception  of  the  true,  the  beauti 
ful  and  the  real,  in  nature  and   art,  and   thereby  exalt  our  perceptions  of 
excellence  —  fit  us  for  the  appreciation  of  the  inexhaustible  stores  of  de 
light  and  enjoyment  that  creation  in  her  prodigality  has  thrown  around  us. 
Persuaded  by  this  conviction,  and  that  while  useful  to  himself,  he  might 
be  in  strumental  inpromoting  intelligence,  and  the  consequent  happiness  of 
others,  the  author  of  the  preceding  pages,  determined  to  illustrate  such 
events,  and  delineate  such  points  as  have   been   rendered   interesting  to 
the  public  from  the  exciting  circumstances  that  transpired   during  the 
recent  war  with  Mexieo.     Of  the  causes  of  that  war,  now  happily  termi 
nated,  its  expediency,  'justice  or  injustice,  he   has  nothing   to  remark. 
Which  party  was  the  aggressor,  the   pedants  of  diplomacy  may  decide. 
Nor  ha  A  it  been  so  much  his  object  to  portray  either  the  glories  or  horrors 
of  conflict,  as  to  preserve  the  views  of  the  battle-grounds,  delineate  the 
geographical  resources  of  the  country,  its  natural  scenery,  architecture, 
and  diversified  botany.     The  lines  pursued  by  the  two  chief  divisions  of 
the  American  Army  have   been  chosen  for  representation,  because  the 
reminiscences  connected  with  those  regions  impart  to  them  a  greater  de 
gree  of  interest  than  other  places,  known   to  us,  perhaps,  only  by  their 
almost  unpronounceable  names.     These,  however,  comprise   only  about 
two-thirds  of  the  painting ;  the  other  views   being  located  on  the  route 
pursued  by  the  author  and  his  companions,  an  account  of  whose  captivity 
and  adventures  is  contained  in  the  foregoing  pages. 

The  natural  scenery  of  Mexico  abounds  in  all  the  gorgeousness  the 
most  poetic  imagination  could  conceive  ;  which,  with  the  memory  of  the 
118 


APPENDIX.  119 

many  strange  deeds  of  renown,  marking  both  her  ancient  and  modern 
history,  have  thrown  around  her  borders  a  charm  more  dreamy  and  indis 
tinct  than  those  which  cluster  about  the  classic  vales  of  the  olden  world. 
Upon  both  lands  has  the  Creator  lavished  the  indelible  imprints  of  beauty ; 
yet  while  poetry  and  historic  association  have  consecrated  the  memory 
of  the  one,  they  have  left  but  faint  and  glimmering  traces  of  light  upon 
the  other.  There  is  a  strange  coincidence  in  the  almost  simultaneous 
opening  to  the  nations  of  the  earth,  the  China  of  the  old  world  and  that 
of  the  new.  Until  recently  our  knowledge,  not  only  of  the  original  half- 
civilized  proprietors  of  the  soil,  but  even  of  the  more  modern  race  of  Mex 
ico,  has  been  vague  and  unsatisfactory.  Not  till  the  traditions  of  the  for 
mer  were  to  be  realized  by  the  latter,  were  our  people  permitted  to  tread 
upon  a  land,  whose  whole  history  abounds  in  the  wildest  romance  of  heroic 
achievement.  Still  paler  faces  have  gone  from  the  north  and  conquered 
the  conquerors  of  the  Montezumas.  Almost  the  same  route  trod  by  the 
Spanish  cavalier  three  centuries  since,  as  a  superior  being,  sent  from  a 
better  sphere,  has  been  retraced  by  the  Anglo-Saxon  ;  and  whether  it 
ultimately  prove  for  the  interest  of  mankind  or  not,  manifest  destiny 
seems  suddenly  to  have  brought  us  in  direct  collision  and  more  familiar 
communication  with  a  people  to  whom  we  have  been  comparative  stran 
gers. 

These  considerations  could  not  fail  to  suggest  the  interest  with  which 
a  painting,  presenting  the  bold  and  beautiful  features  of  a  land  so  little 
known,  would  be  received  by  the  public.  The  proprietor  has  often  re 
gretted  that  he  did  not  commence  his  sketches  before  reaching  Zacate- 
cas,  as  the  reader  will  find  described  in  the  foregoing  work  several 
points,  the  representation  of  which  would  have  added  additional  interest 
to  the  panorama.  But  in  the  hopeless  capacity  of  a  captive,  his  thoughts 
were  otherwise  occupied,  until  severe  suffering  had  taught  him  something 
of  practical  philosophy.  Besides,  any  considerable  addition  to  the  already 
extensive  painting,  would  have  precluded  the  possibility  of  exhibiting  the 
whole  during  one  evening.  As  a  work  of  art,  it  does  not  here  become 
the  proprietor  to  speak  of  this  production.  In  that  respect,  he  leaves  the 
painting  to  tell  its  own  story  ;  yet,  lest  he  should  appear  ungrateful,  he 
is  candid  to  confess  that  its  flattering  reception,  both  by  the  press  and  the 
public,  has  been  a  source  of  pride  to  him. 

As  the  circumstances  under  which  it  was  produced  may  not  be  wholly 
uninteresting  to  the  reader,  the  following  articles  relative  to  the  personal 
histor}'  and  adventures  of  the  proprietor  are  subjoined.  Immediately  on 
his  return  to  the  United  States,  after  an  absence  of  over  fourteen  months, 
seven  of  which  were  spent  in  captivity,  the  fact  was  communicated  by  a 
friend  to  the  editor  of  the  "  New  Orleans  Delta,"  in  which  paper  of  June 
12th,  1847,  the  following  editorial  article  appeared  : 


120  APPENDIX. 

44  AN  AMERICAN   EDITOR   SOLD  TO  THE  MEXICANS." 

"That  editors  are  often  bought  and  sold,  in  these  days  of  accomplish 
ed  political  profligacy  and  intrigue,  few  persons  possessing  common 
sagacity,  will  undertake  to  dispute.  The  price  we  presume  varies  in 
accordance  with  the  influence  and  position  of  the  particular  journal  sought 
to  be  subsidized  —  from  "  fifty-two  thousand  "  down  to  a  "  mess  of  pot 
ash."  Uninitiated  as  we  of  course  are,  in  the  Free  Masonry  of  politics, 
the  process  of  negotiation  is  Greek  to  us.  We  feel  inclined  however  to 
accord  to  the  age  sufficient  refinement  to  impart  to  such  transactions 
an  air  above  the  dull  commerce  of  mere  business  To  say,  "  what's 
your  price  ?"  would  be  a  barbarous  vulgarism,  fit  only  for  the  Turk  who  is 
permitted  to  deal  in  the  transparent  flesh  of  the  Circassian  maiden,  or  the 
senorita  of  Mexico.  Among  the  wire  pullers  of  politics  there  is  a  nicer 
perception  of  politeness  assuming  relationship  to  the  timid  shyness  which 
characterizes  the  courtship  of  our  early  days  ;  and  we  infer  that  advances 
are  made  something  in  this  wise  : 

"  A  friend  of  the  Administration,  near  the  expiration  of  the  '  one 
term,'  for  which  its  chief  came  into  power,  disinterested  in  his  devotions 
to  the  '  principles  of  the  constitution, '  but  who  rather  than  behold  the 
republican  system  subverted,  might  be  induced  to  accept  a  foreign  mis 
sion,  more  to  4  carry  out  the  principles  of  the  government,' than  in  con 
sideration  of  the  nine  thousand  dollars  outfit,  calls  at  the  sanctum  of  the 
editor  of  the  '  Independent  Republican.'  After  being  seated,  and  the 
usual  compliments  are  exchanged,  the  special,  yet  disinterested  agent  «of 
the  administration,  should  he  see  his  way  clear,  will  perhaps  throw  out  a 
feeler,  before  even  intimating  the  slightest  disposition  to  pocket  a  receipted 
bill  for  his  last  year's  subscription.  '  Really,  my  dear  sir,  you  must  par 
don  me,  but  I  cannot  forego  an  acknowledgment  of  the  exquisite  pleasure 
your  Series  of  Articles  entitled  the  4  Independence  of  the  Press,'  have 
afforded  me.  My  admiration  for  a  bold  and  untrammelled  spirit  is  un 
bounded,  especially  when  developed  in  those  who  wield  that  great  lever 
of  liberty,  the  public  press.  And  your  sentiments  are  so  akin  to  my  own  — 
so  closely  do  they  approximate  the  great  land-marks  of  our  party,  that 
were  I  capable  of  infusing  in  my  composition  a  tythe  of  your  perspicuity, 
I  should  have  thought  I  had  written  them  myself.' 

"  The  editor  replies  :  — 

"  Your  favorable  consideration  of  my  abilities  is  certainly  gratifying, 
sir,  though  believe  me,  when  1  assure  you  that  one  of  my  chief  studies 
has  been  to  establish  for  my  paper,  a  character  independent  of  either  and 
all  parties  as  well  as  sects." 

14  And  indeed  you  have  succeeded  admirably  in  your  determination, 
for  under  your  control,  the  Republican  has  acquired  a  reputation  enjoyed 


APPENDIX.  121 

by  few  of  its  cotemporaries.  But  then  in  this  world  of  life  and  business, 
one's  influence  fails  to  be  properly  appreciated  in  your  apparently  iso 
lated  position.  As  the  acknowledged  organ  of  a  powerful  party  with  the 
most  flattering  prospect  of  retaining  its  ascendancy,  your  usefulness 
would  be  unbounded — your  productions  would  be  felt,  where  they  are 
now  only  admired.  Besides,  such  an  acquisition  to  our  cause,  would 
carry  dismay  into  the  ranks  of  our  adversaries,  and  in  consideration  of 
the  unimportant  sacrifice  of  what  you  deem  an  independent  position,  but 
which  would  really  afford  you  facility  in  giving  force  to  your  views,  the 
patronage  of  the  government  would  at  once  be  transferred  to  the  4  Re 
publican,'  as  the  most  desirable  channel  through  which  the  friends  of  the 
administration  might  be  kept  advised  of  the  conduct  of  their  public 
servants.' 

"  The  last  argument  proves  conclusively  irresistible,  and  the  editor  of 
the  "  Republican  "  in  examining  his  conscientiousness,  finds  that  he 
differs  with  the  administration  only  in  non-essentials  —  in  which  Jeffer 
son  himself  recommends  freedom,  so  he  runs  up  the  banner,and  his  advent 
into  the  Babylon  of  party  strife  is  hailed  as  '  another  tremendous  dem 
onstration  '  in  favor  of  the  principles  of  the  party  which  has  purchased 
him. 

"  Being  sold  editorially  and  being  sold  as  an  editor,  are,  however,  two 
different  things.  A  day  or  two  since,  a  good  looking  typo  who  belonged 
to  the  1st  Indiana  Regiment-,  related  to  us  the  following  incident.  Some 
time  ago,  last  summer  we  believe,  Capt.  Corydon  Donnavan,  who  lately 
arrived  in  New  Orleans,  the  former  editor  of  the  Cincinnati  Daily  Mes 
sage,  and  more  recently  of  the  Wabash  Standard,  published  in  Lafayette, 
la.,  was  clerking  it  on  a  steamer  on  the  Rio  Grande.  One  day,  while 
the  boat  was  taking  in  wood,  our  editor  with  a  couple  of  friends  went  on 
shore  for  the  purpose  of  shooting  armadilloes,  or  any  other  IVfexican 
game  that  they  might  meet  with,  when  but  a  short  distance  from  the 
boat,  they  were  surrounded  and  captured  by  some  thirty  armed  Mexicans. 
One  of  these  fellows  who  could  speak  a  little  English,  found  out  that  the 
unfortunate  editor  was  a  printer  by  profession,  and  he  immediately 
secured  him  as  a  precious  prize.  Knowing  his  value,  he  set  a  price  upon 
his  head,  and  he  was  finally  knocked  down  for  the  sum  of  $950.00.' 
Good  heavens  !  that  an  editor  should  be  sold  so  low.  The  poor  fellow 
was  marched  off  to  Valladolid,  the  capital  of  Michoacan,  and  sent  into  a 
Mexican  printing  office  in  that  lovely  city,  to  set  up  villainous  Mexican 
type.  After  working  some  time,  he  succeeded  in  making  his  escape,  and 
after  the  battle  of  Cerro  Gordo,  he  managed  to  fall  in  with  the  army  of 
Gen.  Scott,  where  he  was  quite  at  home.  Who  will  have  the  temerity 
to  say  after  this,  that  editors  are  not  bought  and  sold  ?  " 
10* 


122  APPENDIX. 

The  following  brief  sketch  is  copied  from  the  "  Yankee  Blade,"  it 
having  been  compiled  by  the  editor,  and  published  in  a  recent  number 
of  that  paper. 

"  A  new  era  seems  to  have  arisen  in  public  and  popular  amusements  : 
or  at  least  an  extraordinary  revival  among  panoramic  paintings  has  taken 
place.  Since  the  exhibition  of  Catherwood's  great  work,  some  fifteen 
years  ago,  panoramas  had  become  rather  an  obsolete  idea,  until  Ban- 
vard  produced  his  beautiful  geographical  picture  of  the  Mississippi 
river.  His  complete  pecuniary  success,  no  doubt,  encouraged  others  to 
engage  in  enterprises  of  a  similar  nature  ;  yet  few,  if  any,  have  realized 
like  rewards,  in  the  accumulation  of  either  fame  or  fortune.  No  one 
will  pretend  to  dispute  that  exhibitions  of  this  description  tend  to  refine 
the  taste  and  elevate  the  intellectual  standard  —  that  the  study  of  any 
work  of  art,  possessing  merit,  has  a  happy  influence  —  while  the  extent 
of  patronage  bestowed  on  pictures  like  these,  in  any  community,  is  the 
best  criterion  by  which  to  judge  of  that  community's  cultivation.  There 
is  something  about  their  fascinating  illusions,  calculated  at  once  to  please 
the  eye  and  captivate  the  imagination  ;  and  we  should  not  be  at  all  sur 
prised  did  they  eventually  supercede  the  present  mode  of  teaching  geog 
raphy,  botany,  geology,  etc.,  in  our  public  schools. 

Right  glad  are  we  to  hear  of  Capt.  Donnavan's  complete  success, 
which  is  attributable  not  altogether  to  the  merit  of  his  painting,  trans- 
cendently  beautiful  as  it  is  acknowledged  tto  be,  but  to  the  pleasing 
romance  and  thrilling  interest  associated  with  his  Adventures  in  Mexico. 
The  public's  insatiate  appetite  for  the  wild  and  almost  incredible  ro 
mance  in  which  real  life  so  abounds,  is  to  be  gratified.  The  patient, 
plodding  life  of  an  artist,  who  ekes  out  a  dreamy  existence  in  his  lone 
garret,  is  too  tame  to  arrest  the  attention  of  a  people  rocked*  into  man 
hood  and  maturity  in  the  cradle  of  excitement  —  a  people  whose  earliest 
memories  are  associated  with  stirring  scenes,  and  whose  own  lives  are 
often  a  succession  of  the  adventures  so  strongly  marking  the  character 
of  the  American  people.  To  approve,  without  reserve,  this  idiosyn- 
cracy  of  our  countrymen,  would  be  negatively  to  condemn  modest  and 
patient  merit.  This  we  do  not  mean  to  ck> ;  nor  can  we,  at  the  same 
time,  conceal  the  gratification  it  affords  us  to  see  the  indomitable  spirit 
of  man  struggle  into  success  over  the  odds  of  adversity,  and  what  the 
more  superstitious  often  call  fate  itself.  It  shows  that  in  the  very  genius 
of  our  institutions  are  garnered  up  the  germs  of  distinction,  which  are 
at  the  mercy  of  no  hereditary  entailment  —  that  there  is  no  law  of  the 

land  to  limit  the  exercise  of  the  tact  or  talent  vouchsafed  to  the  humblest 

. 

CltJZen<       ifiovMiUiv  ort'C  >P°'I  >«»»i«f 

Fifty  years  ago,  what  wild  enthusiast  would  have  conjectured  that  the 


APPENDIX.  123 

great  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  besides  feeding  half' a  world  of  men, 
would  so  soon  produce  works  of 'art,  surpassing  in  stupendousness  of 
design  and  originality  of  conception,  the  efforts  of  puritan  New  England  ! 
Yet  it  is  even  so.  The  "  tables  are  being  turned  "  upon  the  Yankees, 
and  the  very  men  to  whom  in  other  days  they  sold  their  wooden  clocks 
and  nutmegs,  now  retort  upon  us,  in  speculations  which  prove  both  in 
structive  and  amusing. 

The  history  of  Mr.  Banvard's  struggles  and  final  triumph,  is  known 
almost  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land  ;  and  about  the  time  of  his 
departure  to  seek  a  wider  field  in  an  older  world,  a  work  similar  in  de 
sign,  but  abounding  in  more  grandeur,  and  in  its  execution  a  wilder 
romance,  comes  before  us  as  a  candidate  for  popular  favor,  and  is 
already  "  winning  golden  opinions  from  all  sorts  of  people."  Like  its 
predecessor,  it  hails  from  the  great  West — the  broad  plains  of  enter- 
prize  and  industry  beyond  the  blue  ridge,  which  but  yesterday,  as  it 
were,  was  the  boundary  of  an  unexplored  wilderness.  We  allude,  of 
course,  to  Capt.  Donnavan's  Great  Serial  Panorama  of  Mexico.  Like 
the  man  who  has  immortalized,  in  the  poetry  of  painting,  the  "  Great 
Father  of  Waters,"  we  find  that  Capt.  Donnavan's  career  abounds  in  the 
charm  of  romance,  yet  is  filled  with  far  bolder  adventure.  Fie  is, 
withal,  a  practical  printer  ;  and  what  adventure  is  too  wild  or  daring  for 
that  strange,  yet  intelligent  body  of  craftsmen,  whose  very  duty  is 
knowledge,  and  whose  daily  task  it  is  to  make  up  a  map  of  the  busy 
world  ?  It  is  the  pride  of  those  connected  with  the  press  in  our  country, 
to  feel,  that  with  all  the  abuses  that  assail  the  tripod,  the  members  of  the 
craft  are  often  found  foremost  in  honorable  enterprize.  Capt.  Donnavan 
has  for  several  years  been  associated  with  the  newspaper  press  of  the 
"  Queen  City,"  from  the  capacity  of  devil  down  to  editor  ;  and  before 
writing  his  "Adventures  in  Mexico,"  which  introduced  him  to  a  wider 
circle  of  admirers  —  a  work,  too,  which  has  been  pronounced  by  many 
of  the  leading  journals,  the  best  incited  by  the  Mexican  war —  his  rep 
utation  as  an  editor  ranked  deservedly  high.  He  is  truly  and  literally 
a  "  travelled  man  "  —  has  not  only  "  seen  the  elephant,"  but  according 
to  u  the  book  "  become  somewhat  familiar  with  the  entire  Mexican 
menagerie.  His  admirable  painting,  representing  as  it  does,  all  the 
points  of  interest  through  which  himself  and  companions,  as  well  as 
the  American  army,  passed,  being  now  open  in  our  city,  and  its  exhibi 
tion  attracting  peculiar  interest  among  the  public,  a  brief  reference  to 
the  personal  history  of  the  projector,  as  well  as  the  circumstances  under 
which  the  work  was  produced,  cannot  fail  to  be  welcomed  by  our  read 
ers.  For  our  information  in  these  particulars,  we  are  indebted  chiefly 
to  the  western  press. 


124  APPENDIX. 

[Prom  the  Cincinnati  Daily  Commercicil,  July  7,  1847.] 

CAPT.  DONNA  VAN'S  RETURN. 

A  FEW  days  ago,  to  the  gratification  of  his  many  friends,  we  had  the 
pleasure  of  announcing  Capt.  Donnavan's  safe  return  to  his  home  and 
family,  after  an  absence  of  over  a  year  in  Mexico.  The  fatigues  of  a 
l9ng  journey,  as  well  as  an  interchange  of  social  civilties  and  affections, 
among  friends  and  relatives,  precluded  at  that  time,  but  the  bare  state 
ment  of  his  arrival,  without  adverting  to  his  many  adventures.  But  the 
first  welcome  greeting,  after  his  long  absence,  having  transpired,  we 
yesterday  enjoyed  a  long  conversation  with  him,  relative  to  his  capture, 
perilous  journey,  sale,  and  final  escape  and  return  to  the  United  States. 

In  times  past,  when  Donnavan  was  an  editorial  contemporary  of  ours, 
we  took  some  liberties  with  each  other,  and  occasionally  indulged  in  a 
good  humored  joke,  frequently  at  our  expense.  But  these  things  live 
only  in  memory,  which  serves  rather  to  strengthen  our  regard,  than 
.alienate  our  friendship.  The  Captain  has  many  friends,  not  only  in  this 
city,  but  throughout  the  entire  West,  where  his  ability  as  a  pleasing  and 
graphic  writer,  has  become  rather  proverbial.  He  is  one  of  those  men 
that  the  "  boys  and  girls  run  after,"  and  we  believe  we  have  never  in 
our  life  known  a  really  bad  man  to  be  liked  and  courted  by  the  juve 
niles.  He  reasons  that  he  was  a  boy  once  himself,  left  fatherless  and 
destitute  at  an  early  age,  and  can  consequently  appreciate  the  courtesies 
of  those  who  smiled  upon  his  adverse  pathway,  and  in  all  of  which 
there  is  a  great  deal  of  truth  as  well  as  genuine  poetry. 

The  Captain  is  a  native  Buckeye,  that  is,  having  been  first  introduced 
to  this  sublunary  sphere  in  our  own  great  state  of  Ohio.  We  first  knew 
him  in  1837,  as  a  practical  printer,  setting  out  from  this  city  to  seek 
his  fortune  in  the  "  sunny  South."  A  few  years  afterwards,  at  the  age 
of  twenty-one-,  we  found  him,  at  the  head  of  a  leading  political  paper  in 
the  neighboring  State  of  Indiana,  and  shortly  afterwards  a  member  of 
its  legislature.  Again,  about  the  time  we  commenced  our  own  editorial 
career  in  the  Queen  city,  we  met  him  as  a  contemporary,  he  having 
purchased  and  assumed  the  editorial  charge  of  the  u  Daily  Morning 
Message,"  an  independent  paper,  established  by  William  D.  Gallagher, 
one  of  the  present  editors  of  the  u  Gazette."  It  was  here  that  his  in 
dustry  and  talent  soon  won  him  a  high  reputation  as  an  editor,  and  in 
which  position  he  continued  till  a  short  time  previous  to  the  commence 
ment  of  hostilities  with  Mexico.  He  held  the  commission  of  Captain  in 
the  great  "  standing  arrny  "  of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  signed,  sealed  and  deliv 
ered  by  Gov.  Corwin,  Commander-in-chief  of  the  Ohio  militia,  and  still 
retains  his  belligerent  title,  though  always  peaceably  disposed. 


APPENDIX.  125 

Like  most,  or  at  least  many  men,  who  embark  in  newspaper  specula 
tions,  his  labors  were  rewarded  more  by  empty  honors,  than  by  those 
pecuniary  realities  which  are  requisite  to  keep  body  and  soul  together ; 
and  being  naturally  impulsive,  and  stimulated  by  a  desire  to  accumulate 
fortune  more  speedily,  upon  the  receipt  of  the  news  of  the  first  battles, 
he  hastened  to  the  seat  of  war  on  the  Rio  Grande,  In  the  capacity  of 
manager  of  a  steamer,  engaged  in  transporting  troops,  and  munitions  of 
war,  from  Brazos  to  Camargo,  he  was  fast  realizing  his  golden  anticipa 
tions,  when  an  unexpected  surprise  made  himself  and  two  intimate  com 
panions  prisoners,  at  the  mercy  of  a  band  of  guerillas,  ten  times  their 
number,  headed  by  the  notorious  Canalles.  Those  who  have  any  knowl 
edge  of  the  barbarous  manner  in  which  American  prisoners  are  dealt 
with  in  Mexico,  can  best  depict  in  imagination  the  perilous  situation  of 
this  small  and  defenceless  party.  Thrice  were  they  condemned  to  be 
executed  as  common  felons  ;  but,  as  if  through  some  providential  inter 
vention,  they  were  as  often  spared  a  death  so  cruel.  From  near  Ca 
margo,  they  were  hurried  across  the  Sierra  Madre  to  Zacatecas,  without 
any  positive  knowledge  of  their  fate  or  destination.  Here,  through  the 
interposition  of  a  number  of  American  and  English  citizens,  they  were 
temporarily  released  :  but  only,  as  they  soon  found,  to  be  recaptured, 
together  with  those  who  had  so  magnanimously  endeavored  to  rescue 
them.  The  entire  party  was  then  conducted  by  an  efficient  guard  over 
the  mountains  and  deserts,  through  the  cities  of  San  Luis,  Guanajuato, 
and  Queretaro,  to  Valladolid,  performing  the  journey  chiefly  on  foot.  At 
the  latter  place,  Capt.  Donnavan  and  one  of  his  associates,  Mr.  Cunning 
ham,  who  was  also  a  practical  printer,  were  sold  like  cattle  in  the  mar 
ket,  and  forced  into  involuntary  servitude  in  a  Mexican  printing  office. 

Of  all  these  wrongs,  none  of  their  countrymen  could  be  made  cogni 
zant.  No  word  of  condolence  from  anxious  friends  could  reach  them, 
for  the  "  secrets  of  their  prison  house  were  unrevealed."  Months  passed 
away,  and  no  intelligence  came  home  by  which  to  trace  the  fate  of  the 
captives.  A  year  transpired,  and  Donnavan  was  considered  as  good  as 
dead  ;  when,  all  at  once,  he  turned  up  suddenly,  good-looking  as  ever, 
but  his  clothes  rather  the  worse  for  wear.  ttflpirrnff  T  IfNWKFP-' 

The  Captain  informs  us  that  he  made  his  esca'pe  alone,  in  the  night. 
After  a  perilous  journey  of  several  days,  performed  on  foot,  he  reached 
the  city  of  Mexico,  from  which  point  he  reached  Vera  Cruz  without  dif 
ficulty,  and  sailed  for  New  Orleans  about  a  month  ago.  In  his  travels,  he 
has  acquired  much  knowledge  of  the  people,  and  a  region  of  country 
little  known  to  any  of  us,  the  publicity  of  which,  taken  in  connectiou 
with  the  incidents  of  his  own  captivity  and  adventures,  could  not  fail  to 
be  of  thrilling  interest  to  the  public.  In  fact,  he  owes  it  not  only  lo 


126  APPENDIX. 

himself  and  friends,  but  to  the  world,  to  publish  a  detailed   narrative  of 
"  all  of  which  he  saw,  and  part  of  which  he  was." 

The  following  notice  of  the  Panorama  is  copied  from  the  "  Cincinnati 
Gazette,"  as  one  among  many  others  equally  complimentary,  but  with 
more  of  which  it  is  deemed  unnecessary  to  crowd  the  present  work  : 

CAPT.  DONNAVAN'S  PANORAMA. — There  are  two  individuals  insepar 
ably  connected  with  the  history  of  the  Mexican  campaign,  whose  names 
bear  a  striking  resemblance, — Col.  Doniphan,  and  Capt.  Donnavan. 
Both  have  gone  through  dangers  and  "  hair-breadth  escapes,"  and  suf 
fered  all  manner  of  hardships ;  both  dearly  paid  for  the  privilege  of 
"  seeing  the  elephant,"  studying  his  natural  history,  and  getting  the  run 
of  his  tricks  ;  both  have  written  histories  of  their  adventures  ;  but  there 
is  one  thing  in  which  our  old  typo  friend,  the  Captain,  leaves  the  gallant 
Colonel  completely  in  shadow  :  he  has  illustrated  the  brilliant  achieve 
ments  of  our  army  in  Mexico,  with  a  magnificent  Panorama,  and  retires 
from  the  campaign  with  his  colors  still  flying. 

Besides  his  own  time,  the  Captain  has  employed  that  of  three  distin 
guished  artists,  during  the  past  eight  months,  on  this  stupendous  produc 
tion,  and  he  leaves  in  a  few  days  for  the  purpose  of  exhibiting  it  to  the 
people  of  the  eastern  cities.  Our  friends  there  will  find  it  eminently 
worthy  of  their  attention.  To  the  members  of  the  press  and  the  public, 
we  commend  Capt.  Donnavan  as  a  gentlemanly  fellow-craftsman,  an 
eccentric  natural  genius,  and  altogether  an  extraordinary  man,  who  has 
displayed  much  energy  and  enterprise  in  getting  up  this  work.  He  de 
scribes  it  in  a  manner  which  adds  much  to  the  interest  of  its  exhibition. 
The  painting  has  been  very  successful  here,  and,  as  its  accuracy  is 
vouched  by  many  officers  and  privates  who  have  returned  from  service 
in  the  lines  of  both  Gen.  Taylor  and  Gen.  Scott,  we  anticipate  like  suc 
cess  for  it  wherever  it  may  be  exhibited. 

LETTER  FROM  MR.  CUNNINGHAM. 

The  following  extracts  from  a  letter  received  by  the  author  last 
spring,  from  his  old  companion,  may  not  prove  unacceptable  to  the 
reader.  Surely  the  "  perquisites  "  to  which  he  alludes,  a  sum  amount 
ing  to  about  $150,000,  could  not  have  been  totally  so  to  him. 

NEW  ORLEANS,  March  18,  1848. 

CAPT.  DONNAVAN  :  You  will  doubtless  be  even  more  suprised  on  the 
receipt  of  this  than  was  I  after  perusing  your  "  Adventures,"  a  copy  of 
which  I  obtained  here  the  day  after  my  arrival.  "  McGreggor  's  on  his 


APPENDIX.  127 

native  heath  again,"  But  first  permit  me  to  congratulate  you  on  your 
propitious  return  to  family  and  friends.  Not  only  do  I  voluntarily  hasten 
to  excuse  my  conduct,  previous  to  your  "  unceremonious  elopement," 
and  to  which  I  observe  you  have  made  a  significant  allusion,  but  at  the 
same  time  to  crave  a  thousand  pardons.  Impotence  will  cling  around 
our  selfish  natures,  and  the  truth  is,  I  found  my  heart  too  narrow  to 
divide  its  affections.  *  *  *  Various  conjectures  were  indulged,  in 
regard  to  your  probable  fate  after  your  precipitous  flight,  and  our  mutual 
friend  Buffam  was  outrageously  indignant ;  though  his  exaggerated  vocif 
erations  met  with  little  sympathy,  and  he  soon  cooled  down  to  his  native 
element  of  "  masterly  inactivity." 

I  have  been  over  a  week  in  New  Orleans.  With  what  a  thrill  of  joy 
I  tread  again  my  native  shores,  you  and  those  only  who  have  passed 
through  like  perils,  can  appreciate.  You  are  aware  that  my  bondage 
was  virtually  broken  before  your  departure,  but  it  was  soon  cemented 
in  another  and  far  more  agreeable  one.  You  can  infer  my  meaning. 
Mrs.  Cunningham  and  our  two  little  dark-eyed  twin  daughters  are  of 
course  with  me,  affording  almost  as  much  curiosity  as  we  did  on  our 
debut  in  Valladolicl.  *  *  * 

I  wish  to  hear  from  you  often,  and  we  both  join  in  hoping  to  see  you 
soon.  My  residence  will  be  in  future  near  Kosciusko,  Miss.,  that  is  if 
my  tropical  flowers  will  bear  transplanting  in  so  ungenial  a  clime.  Mrs. 
C.  is  by  no  means  favorably  impressed  with  the  peculiarities  of  the 
"  Americanos  "  generally,  and  should  she  desire  to  return  to  her  mountain 
home,  it  will  afford  me  pleasure,  much  as  I  love  my  native  land  ,and  its 
institutions,  to  sacrifice  them  for  an  affection  which,  without  its  perqui 
sites,  combining  all  the  elements  of  wealth  and  ease,  would  make  me 
one  of  the  happiest  of  men.  How  immeasurably  little  do  we  know  of 
this  world's  future  !  The  very  spot  where  misery  and  degradation 
seemed  ready  to  spend  their  fury  on  our  temporal  lives,  to  me  has  been 
changed  to  a  paradise,  and  its  associations  cling  around  me,  consecrated 
to  the  memory  of  all  I  care  to  live  for. 

F.  R.  CUNNINGHAM. 


THE    PANORAMA. 


NOTE. — Wherever  cities  or  points  represented  on  the  Panorama  have  been  fully  de 
scribed  in  the  body  of  this  work,  a  recapitulative  description  has  been  deemed  unneces 
sary,  reference  being  made  to  the  preceding  pages. 


PART  FIRST. 

CORPUS  CHRISTI,  an  unimportant  place  with  a  few  buildings,  known 
a  number  of  years  as  the  residence  of  Col.  Kinney,  a  Texan  pioneer 
—  located  on  Aranzas  Bay,  a  peninsula  of  flat  shell  beach,  and  from 
which  the  Army  of  Occupation  took  up  its  line  of  march  for  the  Rio 
Grande,  March  llth,  1846,  as  represented  on  the  canvass. 

ARAGO  COLORADO,  a  small  river,  the  banks  of  which  are  lined  with 
chaperal,  a  dwarfish  copse  of  thorny  vegetation,  matted  with  vines 
and  prickly  pear ;  the  point  where  General  Taylor's  progress  was 
first  disputed  by  the  enemy. 

POINT  ISABEL,  located  on  an  arm  of  the  Gulf  called  Brazos  Santiago, 
a  distance  of  twenty-five  miles  from  the  city  of  Matamoras,  and  where 
General  Taylor  took  up  his  encampment  on  the  24th  of  March,  1846. 

BATTLE  OF  PALO  ALTO,  first  regular  engagement  with  the  Mexicans, 
after  the  commencement  of  the  war,  on  the  8th  of  May,  1846.  The 
battle-ground  is  located  on  a  broad  prairie,  the  grass  of  which  is  rep 
resented  on  fire,  during  the  evening  of  the  engagement;  one  of  the 
most  grand  and  imposing  views  that  can  possibly  be  transferred  to 
canvass. 

RESACA  DE  LA  PALMA.  This  view  is  represented  the-night  after  the 
battle,  by  moonlight,  with  the  tents,  camp-fires,  stacks  of  arms;  Gen! 
Taylor,  Maj.  Bliss,  and  Capt.  May  in  the  foreground. 

THE  CITY  OF  MATAMORAS.  The  view  is  at  sunrise,  an  hour,  the 
transcendent  gorgeousness  of  which  is  so  well  known  in  Mexico.  The 
city  is  among  the  most  important  in  northern  Mexico,  containing  a 
population  of  about  10,000.  Before  approaching  Fort  Brown,  located 
on  the  bank  of  the  Rio  Grande,  nearly  opposite  the  city,  is  represented 
a  family  of  the  Cacti,  the  specimens  of  which  grow  to  a  height  often 
of  thirty  feet,  remarkable  for  the  beauty  of  its  flowers. 

REYNOSA.  This  is  a  small  place  unknown  except  as  a  military  point. 

THE  Rio  GRANDE,  as  seen  between  Matamoras  and  Camargo,  is  a 
stream  whose  general  course  is  exceedingly  straight,  but  whose  sud- 
128 


THE     PANORAMA. 

den  turns  and  windings  are  still  more  remarkable.  It  is  among  the 
longest  rivers  in  the  world,  from  the  rnouth  to  the  source  being  over 
1800  miles.  For  a  full  description,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  first 
part  of  the  preceding  work. 

CAMARGO,  about  three  miles  from  the  confluence  of  the  San  Juan 
with  the  Rio  Grande,  and  the  point  near  which  the  author  was  cap 
tured,  containing  a  population  of  about  3000.  For  a  description  of 
which,  see  Chapter  I. 

MARIN,  on  the  road  leading  to  Monterey,  celebrated  as  the  former 
residence  of  Canalles,  the  great  robber  chief.  The  town  is  located  in 
a  gorge  of  the  mountains ;  painted  from  a  view  by  Capt.  Whiting, 
of  the  United  States  Army. 

BISHOP'S  PALACE,  near  the  city  of  Monterey,  represented  as  being 
stormed  by  the  American  forces. 

CITY  OF  MONTEREY,  signifying  city  of  the  hills,  in  the  very  midst 
of  which  it  is  located,  and  capital  of  the  province  of  New  Leon,  has  a 
population  of  7000  — •  one  of  the  most  beautiful  cities  in  northern 
Mexico,  and  celebrated  as  the  place  where  Gen.  Santa  Anna  received 
his  military  education.  In  the  suburbs  of  the  city,  are  represented 
the  residence  and  gardens  of  Gen.  Arista,  the  place  where  Gen. 
Taylor  first  consented  to  become  "  the  candidate  of  the  people,"  for 
the  Presidency  of  the  United  States. 

VALLEY  OF  SAN  JUAN,  a  delightfully  cultivated  region,  as  seen  from 
the  heights  in  the  vicinity  of  Monterey,  looking  towards  Saltillo, 
where  flourish  the  sugar-cane,  cotton,  tobacco,  the  orange,  pine-apple, 
palm,  plantain,  and  all  the  tropical  fruits. 

MEXICAN  HACIENDA,  containing  two  hundred  thousand  acres  of 
ground,  with  all  its  characteristics,  habitations,  cultivated  fields,  hedge 
fences,  &c. 

CITY  OF  SALTILLO,  located  on  the  side  hill  as  the  name  signifies,form- 
erly  the  capital  of  Coahuila,  with  a  population  of  12,000,  remarkable 
for  the  beauty  of  its  churches  and  cathedrals. 

BATTLE  OF  BUENA  VISTA.  Six  miles  from  the  city  of  Saltillo,  is 
represented  the  great  battle  where  Gen.  Taylor  made  the  last  master 
stroke  in  his  successful  military  campaign.  With  4,500  men,  chiefly 
volunteers,  it  will  be  remembered,  that  he  here  met  and  defeated 
about  20,000,  the  flower  of  the  Mexican  army,  under  Gen.  Santa 
Anna.  The  position  of  the  two  armies  is  represented  on  the  second 
day  of  the  engagement,  the  23d  of  February,  1847.  The  American 
loss  was  estimated  at  264,  that  of  the  enemy  2000. 

CITY  OF  ZACATECAS.  A  delightful  city,  occupying  a  mountain  loca 
tion,  and  represented  as  seen  from  the  garden  of  Andalusia,  in  the 
vicinity.  For  a  full  description,  see  Chap.  VII. 

11 


130  THE       PANORAMA. 

A  MEXICAN  RANCH,  the  kind  of  residence  occupied  by  much  the 
larger  portion  of  the  population. 

SAN  Luis  POTOSI.  This  place  is  fully  described  on  p.  66.  In  its 
vicinity  is  also  represented  the  manner  in  which  the  Mexicans  re 
cruit  their  army. 

'•  CITY  OF  GUANAJUATO.  A  magnificent  view  of  the  entrance  to  this 
wealthy  city  is  represented,  painted  from  a  sketch  presented  to  the 
author  by  Mr.  Kendall,  editor  of  the  New  Orleans  Picayune.  A 
detailed  description  of  the  place  may  be  seen  on  reference  to  page  68. 

THE  TABLE  LANDS.  That  the  spectator  may  obtain  a  far  more  ade 
quate  idea  of  the  table  lands,  than  can  possibly  be  acquired  from 
either  books  or  oral  description,  extensive  plains,  both  cultivated  and 
arid  are  represented —  fields  of  corn,  wheat,  aloe  and  the  nopal,  and 
broad  sterile  regions,  where  owing  to  the  etherial  state  of  the  atmos 
phere,  the  eye  may  rest  on  a  perspective  more  than  twice  the  extent 
it  can  in  any  portion  of  our  own  country. 

CITY  OF  YAQUI.  This  Indian  or  Aztec  city,  a  description  of  which 
will  be  found  at  length  in  the  preceding  pages,  is  remarkable  for  its 
antiquity  and  peculiar  architecture.  See  chap.  V. 

CITY  OF  QUERETARO.  This  city,  celebrated  for  the  beauty  and 
uniformity  of  its  architecture,  and  for  the  indolence  of  its  inhabitants, 
is  the  place  to  which  the  Mexican  Congress  fled  upon  the  subjuga 
tion  of  their  capital  by  the  army  under  General  Scott.  It  is  described 
on  page  68. 

VALLADOLID.  This  city,  so  familiar  to  the  author,  is  represented 
by  a  moonlight  view,  having  paused  after  his  escape  to  "  make  a  note 
of  it." 

*>;.  •   T'  .s»')J !.)!.!  b*>jii7{ju;..>  ^ .:>  ->'j;i.s- ';•?•«  .fcfi^n  •,•'  .•:>;'  •  t  £ifiM»  il 

PART  SECOND. 

CITY  OF  TAMPICO,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Paunco  river  —  one 
of  the  most  important  commercial  points  of  Mexico,  and  numbering 
a  population  nearly  as  large  as  Vera  Cruz.  Taken  possession  of  in  the 
early  history  of  the  war  by  Mrs.  Chase,  lady  of  the  American  Consul, 
who,  by  her  heroic  daring,  frightened  the  entire  population  into  an 
unconditional  surrender. 

ISLAND  OF  LOBOS,  signifying  Wolf  or  Seal  Island,  a  charming  spot, 
formed  chiefly  of  coral,  covered  with  Banyan  trees,  and  the  place 
where  Gen.  Scott  concentrated  his  forces  previous  to  the  attack  on 
Vera  Cruz. 

HARBOR  OF  VERA  CRUZ.  Approaching  the  harbor  the  fleet  of  Com 
modore4  Connor  is  to  be  seen,  and  the  landing  of  Gen.  Scott's  forces, 
consisting  of  about  11,000  men,  near  the  city,  on  the  9th  of  March, 
1847,  in  iron  surf-boats,  constructed  lor  the  especial  purpose. 


THE       PANORAMA.  131 

CITY  OF  YERA  CRUZ,  extending  along  the  beach  three  miles,  with 
the  great  Castle  of  San  Juan  de  Ulloa.  The  population  of  the  city 
is  estimated  at  from  8000  to  10,000 — its  streets  are  wide  and  spa 
cious,  some  of  them  well  paved  with  stone  shipped  from  Quincy, 
Mass. 

NATIONAL  BRIDGE,  usually  called  "  Puente  Nacional,"  built  by  the 
old  Spanish  government,  and  one  of  the  firmest  as  well  as  most  durable 
structures  of  the  kind  in  America.  The  bridge  is  thrown  across  the 
Antigua  river,  a  small  mountain  stream,  is  nearly  half  a  mile  in 
length,  constructed  of  small  stones,  cemented  together,  the  masonry 
covered  with  a  uniform  coat  of  marble  cement,  and  forming  altogether 
the  strongest  point  of  defence  on  the  line  of  the  National  road,  leading 
from  Vera  Cruz  to  the  city  of  Mexico. 

fc  CERRO  GORDO.  The  abrupt  and  imposing  heights  of  Cerro  Gordo, 
present  a  striking  contrast  to  the  low  lands  of  the  coast,  and  the  spec 
tator  is  again  introduced  to  the  mountain  regions,  in  which  Mexicp 
so  abounds.  The  storming  of  this  strong  defence  by  the  American 
forces,  as  represented  on  the  canvass,  took  place  April  18,  1847. 
The  American  loss  on  this  occasion  was  estimated  at  250,  that  of  the 
enemy,  350,  while  according  to  his  official  reports,  Gen.  Scott  took 
3000  prisoners,  forty  pieces  of  artillery,  and  5000  stand  of  small 
arms. 

CITY  OF  jALAPA,the  most  delightful  place,  in  fact  the  El  Dorado  of 
Mexico,  its  vicinity  abounding  in  all  the  fruits  peculiar  to  the  tropics. 
For  further  description,  see  p.  101. 

ORIZABA.  The  view  of  this  volcano,  called  by  the  ancient  popula 
tion  of  Mexico,  Citlalteptl,  (signifying  star-mountain,)  is,  as  seen  from 
Los  Viegas,  the  highest  point  on  the  National  road,  the  mountain  or 
volcano  being  some  thirty  miles  distant.  It  rises  according  to  the 
measurement  of  Huinboldt,  17,368  feet  in  height,  the  summit  being 
covered  with  perpetual  snow,  is  visible  a  great  distance  after  leaving 
Vera  Cruz  in  the  Gulf.  It  is  the  last  point  of  land  to  be  seen  in 
Mexico,  after  leaving  the  harbor  of  Vera  Cruz. 

PEROTE.  The  town  of  Perote,  Coffre  and  Castle  of  the  same  name 
by  moonlight.  For  description,  the  reader  is  referred  to  p.  100. 

CITY  OF  PUEBLA.  The  view  of  this  beautiful  city,  capital  of  the 
same  province,  is  represented  as  seen  from  Fort  Loretto,  on  an  emi 
nence  occupied  by  the  American  forces  during  the  war.  The  great 
volcanoes  of  Popocatepetl  and  Iztaccihuatl  with  their  summits  of  per 
ual  snow,  are  to  be  seen  in  the  distance,  towering  above  the  clouds. 
For  a  further  description  of  the  city,  see  p.  98. 

PYRAMID  OF  CHOLULA.  This  pyramid  is  certainly  among  the 
most  interesting  antiquities  of  our  continent,  surrounded  as  it  was,  in 
the  days  of  the  Conquest,  by  the  city  of  the  same  name,  which  was 


132 


THE       PANORAMA. 


. 


the  religious  capital  of  the  Aztec  race,  and  to  which  the  people  made 
pilgrimages  as  did  the  Mahomedans  to  Mecca. 

Rio  FRIO,  a  mountain  pass  and  beautiful  valley.  In  the  valley  of 
Rio  Frio,  signifying  cold  river,  is  located  the  village  of  Cordova,  cele 
brated  as  a  favorite  resort  of  robbers  and  guerrillas. 

CASTLE  OF  CHAPULTEPEC.  The  hill  of  Chapultepec,  signifying  grass 
hopper  hill,  is  located  about  two  miles  west  of  the  city  of  Mexico,  to  a 
view  of  which  the  spectator  is  transported, before  entering  the  city.  It  is 
naturally  well  fortified,  the  bluff  being  steep  and  formed  of  porphyritic 
rock.  The  Castle,  constructed  by  the  young  viceroy  Galvez,  nearly 
two  centuries  ago,  occupies  the  summit,  is  600  feet  in  length,  and  40 
feet  high.  It  has  been  long  occupied  as  a  military  academy.  It  is 
the  real  sight  of  the  much  talked  of  "  Halls  of  the  Montezumas,"  for 
it  was  here  that  Montezuma  had  his  palace.  In  its  vicinity,  were 
located  the  beautiful  gardens  ef  the  aboriginal  emperor,  and  here  we 
may  even  yet  trace  the  indistinct  remnants  of  the  magnificence  by 
which  the  monarch  was  surrounded.  The  Castle  is  represented  dur 
ing  the  siege  or  bombardment  by  the  American  troops,  which  took 
place  September  12th,  1847. 

CITY  OF  MEXICO.  Perhaps  no  city  in  the  world  offers  a  more 
striking  and  beautiful  panoramic  view,  than  Mexico.  Located  in  lat 
itude  19°  north,  where  fires  are  unknown,  except  for  culinary  pur 
poses,  the  warm  mellowness  of  a  tropical  atmosphere,  throws  over 
the  scene  a  fairy -like  delusion  ;  while  the  calm,  glassy  lakes,  encir 
cled  by  the  high  ridge  of  mountains  which  surrounds  the  valley, 
groves  of  the  orange  and  cypress,  acqueducts,  statuary,  and  forests 
of  church  spires,  impart  a  general  gorgeousness,  unsurpassed  in  the 
wide  world.  The  view  of  the  city,  as  seen  on  the  Panorama,  was 
taken  from  the  dome  of  the  great  cathedral,  which  occupies  the  pre 
cise  spot  where  stood  the  ancient  temple  of  the  sun,  and  the  specta 
tor  is  supposed  to  be  looking  down  upon  the  scene.  The  public 
Hospital  erected  by  Cortez,  an  institution  which  has  continued  to 
dispense  blessings  amid  all  the  wreck  and  ruin  of  revolution ;  the 
Palacio,  or  palace  of  the  viceroys  ;  the  Cara  de  Stado,  the  residence 
of  Cortez ;  the  Franciscan  convent ;  the  University,  founded  in 
1551,  as  well  as  all  the  public  buildings,  the  Alamada  or  park,  the 
principal  streets,  etc.,  are  represented,  and  on  the  last  side  of  the 
Grand  Plaza,  after  the  spectator  enters  that  magnificent  square,  is  a 
front  view  of  the  great  cathedral.  For  a  detailed  description  of 
the  city,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  foregoing  work  —  page  89. 

jg^04  A  most  pleasing  feature  of  the  panorama,  is  its  representation 
of  the  rich  and  varied  botany  of  the  tropics.  Among  the  numerous 
specimens,  introduced  at  appropriate  places,  may  be  mentioned  the 
palm,  cabbage,  cypress,  cedar,  cocoanut,  ebony,  banyan,  calabash, 
orange  and  pandanus  trees ;  the  aloe,  yucca,  cycas,  banana,  pine 
apple,  cactus,  sugar-cane,  cotton,  tobacco,  nopal,  cereus,  jalap,  va 
nilla,  ponisettia,  drummond  phlox,  with  their  fruits,  flowers,  etc. 


